Total Pokemon Blazing Inferno
by Vexan
Summary: 16 Fire types compete for the prize of 1,000,000,000 Poke in a season full of action, drama, romance, and everything in between! Who will win it all?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, it is I, Vexan! Here trying to create a new story! There will be no intro for this chapter really, so enjoy!**

 **-000-**

A Typhlosion ran up to a table, out of breath, before he threw down a folder full of papers. At the head of said table sat a Type:Null with a Ditto next to him. The two eyed the starter type as he tried to catch his breath, neither saying a word.

"Everything is all set." The Typhlosion said after a few moments, opening up the folder. He pulled out multiple papers, eventually sliding one towards the two silent Pokemon, "We were approved to have at least three seasons. But are you sure this is a good idea, sir?" The fire type asked the Type:Null.

"Of course it is." The normal type responded in a rough voice, "We have to prove that regular Pokemon can be as good as those damn legendaries. We have to beat them in every area, including these idiotic shows!"

Typhlosion deadpanned, "And why do we need to prove we are better than legendaries?"

"They think they're all high and mighty and so much better than us!" Ditto replied this time, his voice slightly higher than the average guy, "Well, they aren't! We are all equal!"

"They are immortal, we are not." Typhlosion stated as he shook his head, "I'm just going to chalk this up as you two being butthurt about being imperfect copies."

Type:Null scoffed, "We are not! We are our own Pokemon that just happen to be better than them."

"Whatever." The Typhlosion sighed as he rubbed his head, "Anyways, the hosts have been contacted, the stimulation chamber has been placed, and the trailers are all set. All of the contestants are on their different planes that will be at the airport soon enough. Anything else?"

Type:Null shook his head, "That will be all." He stated gruffly before he narrowed his eyes at the weasel, "If you weren't a valuable worker, you would have been fired already for your comments."

"Mhmm." Typhlosion hummed as he walked away, leaving the folder and papers on the table. After he left the room, Type:Null sighed.

"I want to kill him…"

 **-000-**

In the middle of the largest airport in Sinnoh, a Lopunny hummed to herself as she waited for an old friend of hers. Recently, she was able to get a job with TPRT, a hosting job that most legendaries end up doing. A few days later, a familiar face had showed up and applied while Lopunny was getting ready for her job. Soon, she'll see her old best friend again…If she can actually arrive on time.

"She really loves being fashionably late, I forgot about that." Lopunny said to herself as she sighed. A few moments later, a fluffy cloud-like bird flew over to the bunny, a large grin on her face.

"Loppy!" The Pokemon exclaimed as she crashed into the bunny.

"Altaria!" Lopunny shouted, happy yet in pain. She groaned as she pushed the dragon off of her, "I know we haven't seen each other in years, but there's no need to tackle me." She scowled at the cloud as Altaria started to tear up.

"Come here." Lopunny said as she pulled Altaria into a hug, "I really missed you."

"I-I missed you too." Altaria replied as she pulled away, sniffling a bit yet grinning at the normal type.

"So, you ready to start hosting this thing?" Lopunny asked, "Right now, we have to wait and greet the contestants." Altaria nodded.

"I cannot wait to meet all of the new people!" Altaria sang as she started to fly around, receiving a few looks as she did so.

"Calm down Altaria." Lopunny said with a soft sigh, "The camera has been on for awhile, so all of this is being recorded."

Altaria's eyes widened as she flew down next to the rabbit, "Did you just break the fourth wall?" She then gasped as her voice raised in pitch, "No one is supposed to break the fourth wall! It breaks the universe open and then we all become zombies!"

"That actually sounds pretty radical, dude." The two hosts heard behind them. The two turned and saw a Ponyta standing there, smiling at the two.

"Oh, hello Ponyta." Lopunny greeted as another cameraman moved to capture the interaction, "How did you get here so fast? None of the planes have landed yet."

Ponyta smirked at the two, "Since I live in Sinnoh, I decided to just walk here. I didn't want to ride in an airplane anyways, it sounds like a hassle."

"We are going to take a plane to our destination, I hope you are alright for that?" Lopunny asked, her concern starting to show through.

"If it's needed, I'm up for whatever." Ponyta responded, "But if given a choice, I like to take the road least traveled. It's just who I am, and it makes life so much more entertaining!"

"I could imagine." Lopunny responded with a giggle. She looked around and saw that the planes from Kanto were landing, "So Ponyta, as we wait for the others to get here, tell me why you joined this competition."

"I just came here to have fun really." Ponyta replied, "And the fact that people are becoming less willing to join, I just had to sign up. Show that I am different."

"People are becoming less willing to join?" Lopunny repeated, "Why is that?"

"Because shows like these put contestants through a lot of pain and suffering, in which said contestants are shown to complain constantly." A Charmeleon said in a gruff voice as he walked over towards the two. He crossed his arms while maintaining an intimidating glare, "Like one show, Total Xtreme Action, had one guy get burned multiple times."

"Oh, wasn't that the show where the gay butterfly won?" Ponyta asked as she turned towards the starter, not affected by his glare at all.

"That is correct." Charmeleon replied as he nodded his head, "Personally, I wanted the Scolipede to win, or maybe even the Amaura. Both were great competitors that were voted out due to being threats. Maybe in another universe, one of them would win."

"Thank you for that answer, Charmeleon, and I'm glad to have you here." Lopunny greeted with a smile, "Well, since we are waiting for others, mind telling us why you joined?"

"I really need money, so might as well try my hand at a competition." The lizard shrugged his shoulders, "Though, I'm one hundred percent certain that I will lose this, but I wanted to at least try."

"Why do you say you're going to lose?" Altaria asked, "Are you being tracked down by the FBI, whose mission is only to make sure your life is terrible, so they'll rig the game?"

Charmeleon blinked at Altaria before he closed his eyes, "No. While there are a lot of threats in this game, both physically and mentally, the true threats are social threats. It all depends on one's social game, and mine is not strong whatsoever."

"And yet, by making sure you don't lose, you won't get the chance to be voted out." A silky voice said as a Ninetails walked towards the small group. She maintained a blank face as the others turned towards her, "A popular person cannot be a threat if the team cannot vote."

"Yes, but considering these competitions have a lot of unexpected results, I doubt a team or player can win continuously." Charmeleon replied as he opened his eyes.

"If you prove yourself useful to the team, then you will be kept in."

"And then the merge hits, the phase where the threats are taken care of if the annoyances are gone."

"Yet-"

"Calm down you two!" Ponyta exclaimed as she cut off Ninetails, "The competition hasn't even started. At least relax a little before everyone gets here, there's no need to be so tense early on. Have fun once in awhile."

"I refuse to show weakness early on." Ninetails said simply.

"I agree with Ponyta, you two should relax." Lopunny stated, "That was a stressful conversation, and too much stress is bad for you. It makes me worry."

A small cough was heard after a few seconds as a Growlithe slowly walked over with wide eyes. He reached the group before he spoke, "Uh… Hello. Is this the place for Total Pokemon Blazing Inferno?"

"Yes it is, Growlithe, welcome!" Lopunny greeted, "Not to be rude, but how are you here? The Alolan planes haven't landed yet."

"Oh, I arrived here hours ago." Growlithe responded sheepishly as he gave the host a shy grin, "I was nervous about being late, so I took an earlier plane. Then I thought I was in the wrong airport because I couldn't find you guys, and then I remembered that I got here early and then I fell asleep. Then-"

"Shut it." Charmeleon growled out, making the pup yelp in surprise before he nodded.

"S-Sorry, just nervous is all." Growlithe replied with a chuckle.

"Don't be, no one here will bite you." Lopunny told the pup as her smile became warmer, "So, why did you decide to join? And you too Ninetails."

"I have… Personal reasons…" Growlithe replied vaguely.

"I joined only to test my skills against others." Ninetails added, to which Charmeleon scoffed at.

"You just lost by saying that." He said as he shook his head, "People are going to target you now because they will see you as a threat."

"Yet I will get farther than you." Ninetails replied cool as the planes from Hoenn arrived. She then started to glare at the lizard, "I advise you to stop talking or else I'll have to deal with you."

"Excuse you?" Charmeleon returned the glare as Pokemon started to file into the airport.

Growlithe backed up towards Ponyta as he whispered to her, "I'm scared…"

"No need to be, for I am here to protect you!" Ponyta whispered back.

"My my, kids these days are so eager to get into fights." The two glaring fire types broke their gazes as a Torkoal walked towards the group.

"Kid? I'm twenty years old!" Charmeleon exclaimed a growl.

Torkoal laughed an old man's laugh as he came to a stop, "So young and naive. Deciding to have a pointless argument while making enemies instead of trying to make friends. Foolish." Charmeleon was about to reply until he stopped himself, grumbling afterwards.

"Hello Torkoal, how are you?" Lopunny asked as Altaria seemingly vanished from the area.

"I am well." He replied as he bowed his head, "How are you, pretty one?"

Lopunny giggled, "I am doing great, thank you for asking. Now, before any others arrive, would you like to say why you joined the show?"

"Ah, yes." The turtle smiled at the others, "I simply want to give others my wisdom, whether it be the viewers or the other contestants here."

"No!" A screech was heard as Altaria flew down from the ceiling, "You broke the fourth wall! Now we're all going to die!" She started to cry as Lopunny sighed.

"That's enough Altaria." Lopunny told the dragon, who instantly perked up.

"Okay!" The others stared at the hosts.

"What the fuck?" Charmeleon asked, "Is she even qualified to be a host? She's batshit crazy!"

"She's not crazy!" Lopunny scowled as the lizard, "She likes to act differently."

"Yep, I find other's reactions amusing." Altaria chimed in, "Acting crazy is fun, I might do it all season!"

"Great…" A sarcastic voice called over as a Numel walked over. "My family just had to make me join this stupid competition." He sat down, showing that he was fatter than most of his kind.

"Hello Numel." Lopunny greeted, "What brings you to the competition?"

"To win the money, why else?" Numel asked as he gave her a deadpan look, "If I win this money, then I will be the heir to the family business. Simple as that."

"What kind of business does your family run?" Ponyta asked.

"Something very illegal, girlie." He replied with a smirk.

"That wasn't a dumb thing to say at all…" Charmeleon sarcastically said to himself as the camel glared at him.

"Watch it you overgrown lizard or I'll have my boys hunt you down and turn your skin into some nice leather." Charmeleon rolled his eyes in response.

"There's so many mean people here." Growlithe commented with a sad sigh, "We need more people who like to have fun."

"Hello! It is I, Torchic! Your greatest- ah!" A Torchic tripped over her own feet as he screamed, which caught the other's attention.

Lopunny gasped as she ran over, "Torchic, are you alright?" The host asked as she helped the little chick up.

"Of course I am! I must prove myself and not fall to such weak things." Torchic exclaimed as she waved her little wings.

"I admire your dedication to prove yourself useful." Ninetails told her as she walked over, "Even though you appear to be the weakest here. I remember being like you." Her usual blank face broke out into a small smile as Torchic frowned at her.

"I am not weak!" Torchic exclaimed before she looked down, "Okay, maybe I am weak… But I still try my best so I am not weak!"

"Well, it's nice to have you here, Torchic." Lopunny said after a while, "Why did you decide to join the competition, if you don't mind me asking."

"I want to show off my power and make some money!" Torchic exclaimed, "The money will be used for personal reasons, but I must win!"

"You won't win with me around." A Magmar boasted as she entered the area. She carried a black staff with her as she smiled at the competition, "I'm going to be the one to win in the long run, but that won't matter. I hope we all can became nice friends and try our hardest to give the others a challenge."

"Wait… How were you able to get past security with that staff? It's clearly a weapon!" Charmeleon exclaimed before he grumbled to himself about idiotic people.

"I know my weapons." Magmar replied vaguely before she picked up Torchic, "Little one, I hope we can become friends and grow strong together."

"You are a weird woman…" Torchic stated as she looked at Magmar, "I like you."

"Magmar, you won't be able to use that weapon within the challenges." Lopunny told her before she smiled, "But it's nice to have you here. I won't ask you why you wanted to join since you already told us."

"That's fine." Magmar replied, "I like to use more improvised weapons anyways."

"But I have one question for you…" Altaria said as she flew towards Magmar, one eye closed while another was narrowed. She pulled out a cigar and drew in a breath before continuing, "How did you get here if the Johto planes haven't arrived?"

"The planes came in on the other side of the airport." Magmar replied simply as Lopunny ran over to Altaria.

"Altaria, no smoking!" The host explained as she knocked the co-host's cigar out of her mouth. The cigar flew into the body of a Slugma, which burned instantly.

Slugma started coughing seconds later, which small embers flew out of her mouth. After a moment, she the coughing fit died down, and she was able to speak, "Hi, I'm Slugma."

"Are you alright? That sounded like a bad cough." Lopunny said as she walked over to Slugma, who was on the other side of the group.

"Yeah… Just a small cold." Slugma replied as Lopunny started inspecting her, "I get them all of the time."

"If you say so…" Lopunny reluctantly said as she backed away from the fire type. She straightened herself, "So,what brings you to this competition?"

"No particular reason, I just joined because why not." Slugma responded with a smile before she sneezed. More small embers flew out of her mouth, hitting Growlithe in the process. The pup yelped in surprise and flinched for a second before he shook his head.

"I don't believe it was the wisest decision to join this competition, considering your condition." Torkoal commented from his place, "You will most likely get worse in different climates and you will get others sick. Also, people from Kalos are approaching."

"I promise you that everything will be fine." Slugma replied as she sniffled a bit, "No one will get sick and I will stay the same. Maybe even get better."

"You better not get me sick!" An angry voice exclaimed from behind her, making the Slugma jump. A Litleo stepped into the middle of the group, sending them all smirks, "Litleo here, the one to beat the rest of your assets." Her tone moved from anger to a more prideful tone.

"I highly doubt that." Ninetails spoke up, "You have already proven to be an annoyance."

"Whatever bitch." Litleo replied with a growl, "I've shown to have personality already while you're just a bore."

"Personality does not matter to me, I must remain blank so I can ensure victory." Ninetails stated as she shook her head, "This conversation is over with."

"Okay… So, Litleo, why did you sign up for this competition." Lopunny asked.

"So I can win the money, obviously." Litleo answered, "Use that money to get even more money. And buy lots of delicious food, all for myself!" She started cackling madly.

"What a crazy bitch…" Numel mumbled to himself. Litleo's head snapped to the side as she heard Numel, then she started walking towards him, growling the whole time.

"Hello, is this the right place for… Total Pokemon Blazing Inferno?" A Braixen asked, looking up from a paper. With a few motions with her hands, the paper disappeared from sight entirely.

"This is, welcome Braixen." Lopunny greeted, "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great, thank you for asking!" Braixen replied as she bowed before the Lopunny. As she stood up, she pulled a rose from her fur, "I hope you are also doing well, m'lady."

"I am." The host giggled as she took the rose, "You are a magician? A lot of Braixen seem to have magical powers."

"Magic?" Braixen repeated as she started laughing, "There's no such thing as magic. It's all about deception. A true mage is all about deceiving the eyes while performing amazing tricks. The stuff you see on TV is just psychic type powers. What I do requires actual skill."

"You took my nose!" Altaria gasped out before she touched her face. After a few seconds, she stopped, "Nevermind."

Braixen chuckled softly to herself before she turned towards the group. By this point, the Alolan plane had landed as Braixen greeted the group, Boeing before them, "Hello everyone. I wish all of you a fine competition full of challenges, both physically and mentally." She stood up and walked over towards Ninetails.

"You're really cool!" Growlithe exclaimed as he bounded over towards the magician. He wagged his tail as he sat next to her, "Can you teach me to do something like that?"

Braixen looked down at the pup before she smiled at him, "While your paws will make it incredibly difficult, I see why not, sir."

"Yay!" Growlithe exclaimed as he spun around.

"Someone shut this kid up." Numel groaned as he covered his ears. Growlithe stopped and walked back to his spot, whimpering softly.

"It's okay, little buddy." A Salandit said as he walked over towards the pup, "I know how that's like, being treated wrong by mean people."

"Oh, hello Salandit." Lopunny greeted, "I'll be honest, I am surprised to see a male Salandit here."

"Yeah yeah, it's all about the females…" Salandit said with a sigh, "You're not the first to wish I was a girl…"

"Wait! I didn't-" Before Lopunny could finish, Salandit was already a ways away, hiding under a chair.

"Poor thing…" Ponyta commented as she looked at the poison type, "I should take him out somewhere to have some fun! Cheer him up!"

"He will only find true happiness once he learns to love and accept himself first." Torkoal spoke up, "All efforts to make him happy will be in vain."

"Like that'll stop me!" Ponyta exclaimed before she ran towards the chair Salandit was hiding under. As she went to console the lizard, the airport was filled with Unovan Pokemon.

"I assume this is where I'm required to be." A deadpan voice asked seconds later. A Lampent flew towards the group, his expression emotionless.

"That is correct, Lampent." Lopunny replied as Altaria shrieked, "How was the trip here?"

"Meh." Came the simple reply before Lampent flew away.

"Moving on…" Lopunny said as she saw a _fat_ Emboar slowly make his way over. After a few seconds, the Emboar made it, sitting down near the group, "Hello Emboar! How was the trip?"

"Tiring…" Emboar sighed, "How are you?"

"I'm doing great, thank you for asking!" Lopunny answered as she gave Emboar a smile.

"Damn, you're pretty fat." Numel commented as he walked over towards Emboar, "Since this dude ate too many sweets, he'll most likely be out first. Easy!"

Emboar frowned at this, "I'll have you know that I'm on a strict diet with little to no sweets." Emboar shook his head as he looked at his large abdomen, "I just happen to have hypothyroidism so I have a harder time losing weight."

"Don't mind the camel, he just likes bullying people." Ninetails told the pig.

"And it's rather annoying…" Charmeleon spoke up from his spot.

"Wow, that really hurts me…" Numel replied sarcastically as he went to go sit back down.

"You are not one to speak about fatness, Numel." Magmar said as she placed down Torchic, "Besides Emboar, you are the fatest one here, and Emboar has a reason. What reason do you have?" As she continued to speak, Magmar slowly closed in on Numel.

Numel rolled his eyes, "I like food. My appearance does not matter to me, so I don't care."

"You dudes need to like, chill." A Darumaka commented as he slowly walked over, "We can all be friends here."

Darumaka received a few glares, which he ignored, as he made his way over to Lopunny, "Hello Darumaka, how was your trip?"

"It was chill, bra." Darumaka replied as he gave her a thumbs-up.

"That's good to hear." Lopunny replied, "Let's see… We are missing one more person."

"Larvesta here to save the day!" A Larvesta yelled out from a high point, "Don't worry princess, I will rescue you!" With that, Larvesta shot a String Shot before using it to swing down towards the group. He landed gracefully before flashing the group a bright smile.

"My hero!" Altaria exclaimed before she fainted in Lopunny's arms.

"Uh… Hello Larvesta." Lopunny greeted as she carefully set the dragon type on the ground, "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fabulously right now, thank you for asking, princess." Larvesta stretched as he looked at his competition, "Hello all! I hope we can achieve greatness in this competition!"

"I like him." Torchic said after a moment as the rest just stared at the bug.

"Now that everyone is here, you should all follow me outside." Lopunny told the group before she started to leave the airport. Everyone followed suit, leaving behind a still unconscious Altaria.

After a bit, Altaria jumped awake as she started flying after the group, "Wait for me!"

 **-000-**

The group found themselves in Hearthome City, the crowd full of various Pokemon from many regions. Lopunny lead the fire types past the contest hall and eventually through Amity Square. The park was full of other Pokemon that the group passed. Lopunny finally stopped them in front a set of trailers and a very large and strange machine.

"I've never seen this place before… And I've been here a lot!" Ponyta commented.

"That's because this place can only be accessed by us through some strange technology." Lopunny replied, "Only we can enter or even see this place."

"Huh…" Ponyta looked behind her at the passing people further back, paying no attention to the group.

"Anyways, welcome to Total Pokemon Blazing Inferno!" Lopunny announced as she smiled at the group, "We have trailers here that are kept in top condition as well as fridges stocked with food. Everyday, we have dinner reservations set up for diners located within the city. You can go to the city whenever, we just have a curfew of midnight. In the city, you have the contest hall, the library, I think there's a gym now for those who want to work out, and so much more."

Altaria flew over everyone's heads before she landed on the strange device. She took a few seconds to catch her breathe before she started speaking, "And here is where all of your challenges will take place! Every few days, we will have you guys enter this simulator for a challenge. Each challenge will be based on its own type, so literally anything can go!"

"That's right." Lopunny nodded her head with a smile, "The same procedure will happen with eliminations. Losing team will send someone home and they can never come back. Everybody on the losing team will have a chance to vote for someone and the one with the most votes will leave. Anything I'm forgetting?"

"Hmmm…" Altaria hummed to herself in thought, "Oh yeah, confessionals and the special perk."

"That's right! Eight competitors will be chosen from this competition to merge with eight others in a similar competition happening at the same time. We do not know how they will be picked, we just know that the producers will choose who will show up for another season."

"Huh… This is different." Chameleon mumbled, interested.

"Now, for confessionals." Lopunny lead the group to another, smaller trailer behind the two large trailers, "This is where you will have you confessionals outside of challenges. The simulator has its own place to have these confessionals that you can use. Now, everyone can go in one at a time and then you can do whatever you want! The first challenge will be tomorrow!" With that, Lopunny and Altaria left the group.

"So… Who's first?"

 **-000-**

 **Braixen: She smiled at the camera as she pulled out a deck of cards, "I am honored to be on this show! I get to show everyone how a real magician works and I get a chance to make some money! This is going to be great!"**

 **-000-**

 **Charmeleon: He sighed as he sat in front of the camera, maintaining that same intimidating look, "I'll admit, this competition is very unique so far. Doesn't change the fact that a bunch of losers are here. But no matter, I won't be here for long."**

 **-000-**

 **Darumaka: He sat with a mellow expression on his face. He chuckled before he started to speak, "The hosts seem pretty fun so far. A lot of cool dudes here as well, but a few of them just need to lean back and chill for a bit."**

 **-000-**

 **Emboar: He sighed as he continued to stand, "I can tell my medical condition will hinder me in the challenges, so I won't last long." He shook his head before he smiled at the camera, "I guess I need to go all out on fun while I'm here then! Maybe make some friends!"**

 **-000-**

 **Growlithe: He walked in with a happy expression on his face, "A lot of mean people here, but also a lot of nice people, like Ponyta! I hope I can make some friends and get over my little… problem…" He chuckled sheepishly before he left the trailer.**

 **-000-**

 **Lampent: He floated in place, expressionless, "No comment." He said simply.**

 **-000-**

 **Larvesta: He flexed in front of the camera, smirking, "And the hero of the story has come! I'm ready to take on any challenge and lead my team to victory in the most fabulous way possible!"**

 **-000-**

 **Litleo: She smirked at the camera, "There is absolutely no way anyone can defeat me here! My skills are just too great!" Her face then morphed into a frown, "Yet, that Growlithe is more popular than me already! I want to be more popular than him!"**

 **-000-**

 **Magmar: She smiled as she played with her staff a bit, "This is going to be a great opportunity to get to meet some people. I have not had much social interaction in my life, but I am ready to learn."**

 **-000-**

 **Ninetails: She stared at the camera with a blank face, "I already know that I will be able to carry my team to victory, so I will be able to stay long. But I must get rid of that Numel and Charmeleon, they are not good people."**

 **-000-**

 **Numel: "Easy pickings for me!" Numel exclaimed with a smirk, "Don't worry brother, once I win this, you can finally come back home!"**

 **-000-**

 **Ponyta: "So far so good." Ponyta said as she looked around the trailer, "Interesting people and interesting challenges. I wonder how things will work out in the end."**

 **-000-**

 **Salandit: He sighed as he slowly entered the trailer, "I can already see me losing this. I won't have any allies and I won't even be liked! That and I'm useless… Why did I even join, I'm going to lose like my parents said I would…"**

 **-000-**

 **Slugma: She sniffled a bit as she gave the camera a small smile, "So what if I get sick easily? I'm here to experience something new because it was hard to even leave the house. I can tell I'm already going to have fun!"**

 **-000-**

 **Torchic: She smirked at the camera as she gave a determined expression, "I know that I'm weak, but that doesn't matter. I will try my best to help my team win, eventually winning myself! I will not be stopped!"**

 **-000-**

 **Torkoal: "So many people I can give my wisdom to, what joy." Torkoal said slowly, "I do enjoy helping others. I hope I can last long enough to continue to give my advice."**

 **-000-**

"That is all for now, ladies and gentlemen!" Lopunny exclaimed as she waved at the camera, "Tune in next time for our first ever challenge! Thank you and good night!"

 **-000-**

 **Alright, finally finished with that. I feel like I finally made a solid cast, I can actually do things. Anyways, this will be apart of a large series that I will do, even though it will most likely take many years. I have yet to decide if I will do this story and Total Pokemon Serene Waters, as they are happening at the same time, or just do this one. It wouldn't matter overall since I have both of them planned out but oh well.**

 **I do not plan on quitting this one. TPHI had boring characters and TGPI is cancelled due to timing issues with me and Fuzzboy. But this one, it'll be whenever I have inspiration and the such.**

 **But I hope you guys enjoyed! Make sure to leave a review, saying who you guys like so far!**

Braixen- The Actual Magician

Charmeleon- The Badass Nerd

Darumaka- The Chill Dude

Emboar- The Earthshaking Fatass

Growlithe- The Type Identity Crisis

Lampent- The Soulless Anarchist

Larvesta- The Glorious Super

Litleo- The Seven Sins- Female

Magmar- The Weapons Expert

Ninetails- The Battle Mistress

Numel- The Mob Member

Ponyta- The Free Spirit

Salandit- The Accidental Outcast

Slugma- The Sick One

Torchic- The Weak Try Hard

Torkoal- The Wise Sage


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome all to the second chapter of this TPI. Last chapter, we were introduced to the contestants and learned a bit more about this competition. That's all I got, I know, I'm bad at this. Enjoy!**

 **-000-**

Torchic woke up a little later the next day, as she was up late trying to train. Everyone decided to stay by the trailers the night before, so she had decided to wait until they fell asleep before she started training. Torchic did not want to be judged so early in the game, even by her new friend, Magmar.

She yawned as she exited one of the trailers, immediately spotting Larvesta as he was training outside of the trailers. Nobody else was around at this time, as they had left to check out the city, so Torchic decided to watch the bug train a bit.

She had to admit, Larvesta appeared to be very strong so far. He was swinging around the few trees nearby as he destroyed target after target with no difficulty. Provably working on his arm, Torchic concluded. After a few minutes, Larvesta vanished from Torchic's sight before he appeared before the chick.

Torchic screamed in shock, falling backwards from where she was standing, "Larvesta!" She yelled as she jumped to her feet.

"That is my name, don't wear it out," Larvesta replied as he flashed her a dazzling smile, "I had noticed you were spying on me, so I just had to say hi to you."

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" Torchic exclaimed as she tried to calm her breathing, "You don't scare someone like that."

'My apologies, I did not mean to almost kill another person." Larvesta replied as he tried to bow before Torchic.

After a few moments, Torchic was able to control her breathing as she stated at the bug, "I have to admit, you're really impressive," Torchic complimented, "You were able to destroy those targets with ease while swinging the trees. I have never seen anyone do that before… Or swing from trees before."

Larvesta chuckled as he shook his head, "Training for when I try to save people from… Anything really," Larvesta walked towards a tree before he sat down, "I've been training for years now, and it does not seem like I'm the only one to do so. Ninetails and Magmar seem to have trained for their entire life, and then there's you, who I saw training after everyone fell asleep."

Torchic, who sat next to Larvesta, gasped as he eyes widened, "You saw me training? I thought everyone was asleep!"

"I must be alert at all times so I can hear those in need!" Larvesta responded, "I am a very light sleeper after all. I heard some noise outside and saw you trying to train."

"What do you mean by 'trying?'" Torchic asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"It did not seem like you were trying too hard, or you were going through the motions. Not truly pushing yourself."

Torchic scoffed as she quickly stood up, "Excuse you, I was trying my best! And I'm not going to sit here and let you tell me otherwise!" With that, the small chick stomped away in anger as Larvesta shook his head in amusement.

"That's not what I mean, but she'll get that eventually," Larvesta said to himself. He stood back up and set up more targets to hit for his training, "Too bad I don't have any moving targets."

 **-000-**

 **Larvesta gave the camera a dazzling smile before he spoke, "To be able to get stronger, you have to push past your limits. Going through the motions without increasing the difficulty won't help you at all in the long run."**

 **-000-**

 **Torchic growled as she glared at the camera, "What a jerk! I always try my hardest but he had the nerve to tell me otherwise. And he called me weak! He's going down!"**

 **-000-**

Ninetales and Braixen were talking as they made their way towards the library that had recently opened. The two started talking last night and discovered they enjoyed each other's company. Ninetails suggested going to the library after breakfast which Braixen happily agreed.

The two fire types made their way upstairs where the books were located as they talked about their training.

"That training seems very harsh, even worse than mine," Ninetales commented, "You have wonderful skills."

"Thank you," Braixen replied with a sheepish smile, "I'm sorry, I haven't seen any of your fighting skills, but I have no doubts they will be great!"

"In time, you will see." Ninetales vaguely said as the two finally reached the top of the staircase. The fire types started walking around the books as they continued to converse.

"Hell yeah, just what I was looking for!" A voice interrupted as the girls were talking. They turned around and found Litleo at a table next to them, a book in her hands. She smirked as she held up the book, "I can learn more about the sins of humanity and use them to my advantage! All mine!"

"That's… Slightly disturbing." Ninetales stated as she took a step back.

Litleo noticed the two and picked up another book that was sitting next to her. She threw it towards Ninetales, "Hey boring chick, develop some personality with this book." Litleo told her as the book landed in front of the fox.

Curious, Ninetales picked up the book and read the title, "Blood magic? Really?" Ninetails asked as she shook her head.

"Magic isn't real so just ignore her." Braixen muttered with a sigh as Litleo laughed.

"Blood magic will increase your power and will allow you to control others!" The lion exclaimed with a smirk, "I'm trying to recruit people to the dark side. Join me and winning will be easy!"

"That's completely idiotic," Ninetales replied as she threw the book back, "I agree with Braixen that magic doesn't exist. And blood magic out of anything? Please."

Litleo shrugged, "My work is already done. I introduced the idea of power to you. And just like every other person that lives on this planet, you will fall to temptation. It's easy for anyone to fall to evil, just look at all of the assholes in the world that get what they want while all if the so called good people suffer. My way is the way to win."

"You're crazy," Braixen replied, "There's no need to try to tempt this fair maiden as she already knows that everything you speak of is false."

"Whatever." Litleo picked up her book and left the area.

"Well… Shall we get some books?" Braixen asked as she started walking to a new area.

Ninetails stated at the demonic book for a few seconds before she swiftly picked it up. She grabbed two other random books to hide it before she turned around, "That's a wonderful idea."

 **-000-** **Ninetails held up the red book that read 'Blood Magic For Beginners.' She sighed, "I only returned for the book only because I'm curious as to what lays inside. I don't believe in anything Litleo says."**

 **-000-**

 **Litleo smirked at the camera, "Mission successful. Remember kids, don't waste your time being nice, it will get you nowhere."**

 **-000-**

Magmar entered the newly constructed gym, which was the location where a lot of Pokemon go to train against ghost type Pokemon. Magmar had been everywhere to train with her family, and they had encountered many types except for ghost Pokemon. So, this was the best place to finally train against them.

Magmar walked through the gym as numerous Pokemon of many types fought against the ghost type teachers. Once she reached the back, Magmar spotted Lampent just floating there. Curious, Magmar made her way towards the ghost type.

"Hello Lampent, I have yet to talk to you, so this would be the best chance to do so," Magmar stated as she set her staff down, "I would like to get to know you so we can become friends."

Lampent stared at her for a few seconds before he muttered, "No."

"No?" Magmar repeated, "Are you sure? We can become great friends if we give each other a chance. Friends are great to have."

"Yes." Lampent muttered as he turned away from Magmar.

"I see…" Magmar closed her eyes in thought before she gained an idea. Lampent is a ghost type after all, and she could use some training. She smirked at the ghost type, "How about a battle then?"

Lampent turned back around, but his features were blank still, "Yes." He muttered.

"Follow me, if you may." Magmar lead Lampent towards an unoccupied field for the two to battle. She took one side as Lampent floated over towards the other side.

After a few seconds, Magmar rushed towards Lampent with her black staff in hand. Once she reached the lamp, she swung the staff in an overhead arc, as if wielding a sword. However, the staff phased through the ghost type as he gave no reaction.

Magmar jumped backwards before growling, "Weapons don't work it seems." She sighed before she ran towards Lampent once again, readying a Feint Attack. Lampent observed her movements before his flames started to grow brighter. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, concentrating.

As Magmar closed the distance between the two, Lampent suddenly opened his eyes before he fired a Flame Burt towards the spitfire Pokemon. Magmar was quick to dodge the attack but it was quick to spread across the field. Magmar spotted a Hoppip floating nearby with the Flame Burst close to hitting her.

Magmar growled as she quickly made her way towards the unaware grass type. She leapt up and grabbed the Hoppip before the Flame Burst can hit her. After the attacked faded away, Magmar looked back towards the field and noticed that Lampent was gone.

 **-000-**

 **Magmar growled to herself, "He was willing to hurt innocent people with a powerful attack! I cannot have that happen while I'm around!" She shook her head, "I'm glad we did not become friends."**

 **-000-**

Charmeleon walked out of the gym after he saw Magmar and Lampent get ready to battle. Honestly, he did not want to deal with others on the first day, even though he should. He sighed as he made his way to the center of the city, where apparently a new fountain was built. Might be cool.

As he continued to walk the streets, he noticed a pair of Eeveelutions following him: A Flareon and an Espeon. He shook his head, ignoring the two. Maybe they were just heading the to the same place.

Charmeleon finally reached the fountain and sat on one of the benches nearby. However, he did not notice that Numel was sitting nearby, but Numel did. So the camel decided to mess with the lizard a bit.

"What do you want?" Charmeleon asked as he saw Numel walk over towards him.

"Not much," Numel replied as he sat down next to Charmeleon, "Just seeing what's up, wouldn't want that nice skin to get messed up. Could sell for a nice price."

"Um… Okay." Charmeleon sighed, he was once again stuck with idiocy.

"You know I have to mess with you, you're most likely not going to be here for long, on the account of you attitude." Numel said with a smirk.

Charmeleon shook his head, "I can see myself getting farther than you. Compared to me, you will be useless in challenges and you are more annoying than I can ever be."

"Opinions." Numel scoffed.

Charmeleon rolled his eyes as the Flareon from earlier walked up to him, the Espeon farther back. Flareon smiled at Charmeleon, "Hey handsome, I was wondering if-"

"Sorry, but I'm not into females." Charmeleon said, cutting her off bluntly. Flareon huffed before she walked away, joining her friend.

"Wait, you're gay?" Numel asked with wide eyes. Charmeleon nodded his head, in which Numel got off the bench in return, "Sorry, my friend. I was not aware, I hope you can forgive my actions." With that, Numel walked away, leaving behind a puzzled Charmeleon.

 **-000-**

 **Charmeleon gave the camera a confused look, "What the hell just happened?"**

 **-000-**

Salandit sighed as he shuffled through the crowd in the city, no one paying the lizard any mind. But that's what he was used to anyways, no one ever pays attention to him unless he's directly in front of them. He decided to enter the gym, where he watched Magmar storm out, a glare on her face.

Once he entered the gym, he noticed Torkoal and Emboar talking to each other while near a few sets of weights. Having nothing else to do, Salandit decided to join the two.

"Oh, hello Salandit," Emboar greeted the poison type as he slowly made his way over, "How's your day so far?"

"Meh," Came the simple reply from Salandit, "And you?"

"Excellent!" Emboar replied happily, "These stores have some great tasting food for very low calories and this gym is amazing! I was actually about to start working out before I saw Torkoal walk in here."

Torkoal laughed to himself, "I merely came to observe the people of this gym, even offer them advice," He then turned to Emboar, "I am very surprised by you though. Many fall to their illness, saying that they cannot best it, but yet here you are, fighting against it the best you can."

"Uh, thanks?" Emboar asked with a chuckle before he shrugged his shoulders, "Honestly, I just love working out, makes me feel good. Has nothing to do with my weight."

"It's refreshing to see another do what they love," Torkoal laughed to himself again, "You should try it, Salandit. I assume you do not have something you enjoy doing, correct?"

"You are right," Salandit mumbled before he shook his head, "I should get going."

"So soon?" Emboar asked, "Why not stay and train, or even talk with us?"

"No thank you." With that, Salandit took his leave, leaving Torkoal and Emboar alone.

 **-000-**

 **Emboar sighed, "I feel bad for the little dude, he seems really depressed. I wish I was able to help him, but I don't know what to do."**

 **-000-**

Darumaka smiled to himself as he lazily made his way back to Amity Square. Compared to the city, the park was a very peaceful place to just sit and relax. A place perfect for Darumaka.

As he made his way to the center of the park, Darumaka noticed Slugma talking with Ponyta and Growlithe, so Darumaka decided to join them.

"Yo, wassup people?" Darumaka asked as he approached the group.

"Sup dude," Ponyta replied, "Apparently Growlithe is going to swim in the water. I want to see this, since that is difficult for us fire types."

"I love swimming, it's no problem to me!" Growlithe exclaimed before he dived into the water they were next to. A few droplets landed on Slugma from the splash the pup made, but they just fizzled away.

"I have never seen a Growlithe swim before," Slugma stated before she sneezed, "It's interesting to see." A few seconds later, Growlithe broke the surface, a smile on his face.

"I've never seen a Ponyta swim before…" Ponyta said out loud, thinking to herself, "Hey Growlithe, you should totally teach me to swim. I want to be the first Ponyta to swim!"

"Um… Are you sure?" Growlithe asked, "You do have flames on your body. Won't that severely hurt you?"

"Nah, it'd be fine," Ponyta replied with a smile, "It'd be awesome, dude!"

"If you say so." Growlithe replied as he swam back to shore. All the while, Darumaka just stood around and smiled, content.

 **-000-**

 **Darumaka smiled at the camera as he gave it a peace sign, "As long as I'm with friends, I'm good." He said simply. He stared at the camera for a bit before he decided to leave.**

 **-000-**

 **Growlithe shrugged his shoulders, "I grew up with water types, so I've learned how to make it so water does not affect me. My family even convinced me that I was a water type for awhile there, so here I am, trying to find the fire type in me. Maybe I can use a fire move, like Ember. Who knows?"**

 **-000-**

"So I press this button right here?" Altaria asked Lopunny, "That's weird. It sends a signal to all of the competing contestants."

"Yes Altaria, I told you that a few times now." Lopunny replied with a sigh. Altaria shrugged her shoulders before she pressed the button. Moments later, everyone made it back to the main area.

"Wow, that was fast," Lopunny commented, "Anyways, it's time for your first challenge. Before that, though, I forgot to mention the reward of the season. Whoever wins this competition will win one million Poke, and the runner up will have a reserved spot for your second season."

"We knew the first part, but the second part would have been nice to know." Charmeleon replied with a sigh.

"Now, everyone step into the simulation chamber, so we can get this challenge started!" Lopunny exclaimed, "Altaria shall remain here to make sure everything is running correctly as well as changing properties if needed."

"So you're letting the crazy chick handle the technology we're in?" Numel asked.

Altaria smirked at the camel, "I can make it so you are unable to breathe. You won't die, but it'd be very painful. Want to try me?"

"Nope, I'm good." Numel replied nervously as he took a step back from the cloud.

"Come on, let's go!" Lopunny exclaimed with a giggle, "Trust me, you're going to enjoy this challenge!"

The contestants exchanged looks before, one by one, they entered the chamber. Once everyone was inside, Lopunny entered the chamber as well.

"I get to press the shiny, red button!" Altaria yelled before she pressed the button, starting up the simulation chamber.

 **-000-**

After Altaria pushed the button, the image before the contestants morphed from a steel room to an open area, snow littering the ground and large mountains dotting the landscape. The area had clumps of pine trees around it, but where everyone was standing, the area was flat with snow covering the ground. The contestants looked around as Lopunny smiled at them.

"Welcome to the area of your first challenge. There is no name, as this place does not actually exist, but I'll call it Snowscape," Lopunny said with a smile, "There will be two parts of this challenge. The first challenge will be a massive snowball fight and the second one will be snowboarding."

"That sounds pretty cool." Ponyta commented as a few others nodded in agreement.

"So you want us to have a snowball fight in a very flat field?" Numel asked as he narrowed his eyes, "That sounds extremely boring."

"I was just about to explain that, sweetie." Lopunny replied with a giggle, "But first, we need teams."

Lopunny cleared her throat as a paper suddenly materialized in her hands, "The first team shall be known as the Flaming Flareons. On this team will be Ponyta, Braixen, Ninetales, Slugma, Emboar, Torkoal, and Growlithe. Can you stand on the left side of me?"

The mentioned Pokemon glanced at each other before they moved to the left of Lopunny. Lopunny looked over the rest of the group before looking at the paper, "So that leaves Litleo, Torchic, Magmar, Charmeleon, Darumaka, Lampent, Larvesta, and Numel on the team known as the Blazing Blazikens. Now, if you can all kindly stand to the right of me, I'd appreciate it."

The rest of the group moved to where Lopunny asked of them. Surprisingly, no one said anything throughout the naming of the teams. Lopunny shrugged it off before she continued, "Now, back to the challenge. Like I said, the first part will be a massive snowball fight. Altaria?"

Two large buildings made of snow rose up from the ground, one behind each team and a decent distance away from each other. Most of the campers were surprised at the sudden appearance of the building as Ponyta whistled, "Damn, that's pretty sweet dude."

"You all have five minutes to put together a strategy," Lopunny continued, "If you get hit, you're out. The team that has all of their players get hit is out, and the winning team gets an advantage in the second challenge. Some extra things, you cannot melt the snow whatsoever. Not even with fire. And the second thing is that we made it so the snow does not hurt too much, as I have seen some nasty injuries from these snowball fights."

"A host that actually makes something safe?" Charmeleon asked to no one in particular, "Color me impressed."

"Your time starts now, and have fun with your ice type challenge!" Lopunny exclaimed before she disappeared from sight, surprising some of the contestants.

"This whole simulation thing will take some time getting used to." Emboar stated as a few others nodded in agreement.

"Why are we just sitting here, we're wasting time!" Charmeleon snapped, "Hurry, let's go!" He started to run and his team followed him shortly after. The other team looked at each other before they did the same.

 **-000-**

"Why, this snow actually does not melt. That's pretty cool." Ponyta said after she finished using Flamethrower.

"Focus, Ponyta," Ninetales told her teammate, "Now, we must create a strategy so we can win the advantage for the second half of the challenge. Any ideas?"

"I got one!" Ponyta exclaimed, "We rush into their base with snowballs at the ready. Throw the balls at everyone and we win, easy."

"I doubt anyone would do that, it's easy to take us down." Ninetales replied yet Ponyta smirked at her.

"Exactly. The other team wouldn't expect it! And while they're surprised, we take them out, easy peasey!"

"You have a point on the surprised aspect, but we will have to not use that plan."

"That's cool." Ponyta replied with a shrug.

"Anyone else?" Ninetales asked the group. She had an idea herself, she just wanted to see what the others thought and maybe use a strategy that would be better than hers.

"We can split up, madam." Braixen spot up from her spot, "Have the fastest on our team sneak behind their base and surprise them while we have a few people go on the frontal assault, like what Ponyta suggested. We would have a few people stay here to try to hit some of the other team."

"That is a great idea, but it would be hard to do," Ninetales replied, "Thank you for the idea and it seems to be the best right now. Anyone else?"

"If I may," Torkoal said as he walked over towards Ninetales, "Both plans had the wonderful idea of surprise. That may be our best option as we have a few members here that will have a rather difficult time in the challenge, either due to size, lack of limbs, or speed."

"We can all be super sneaky!" Growlithe exclaimed, "Let's all become ninjas!"

"I guess that can work." Ninetales said to herself out loud. She thought to herself for a bit as her team looked at her. Finally, she gave them a small smile, "This is what we should do."

 **-000-**

"We have a few people sneak to behind their castle and have the rest defend here! Now, get to making snowballs!" Charmeleon exclaimed with a growl as he started to pick up the snow to make a few snowballs.

"Who died and made you leader?" Numel asked before he paled slightly, "I-I mean, sure thing boss. Let's make these snowballs!" The entire team, except for Lampent, gave the Numel puzzled looks as he started to make a few snowballs as well.

"What is wrong with the camel?" Torchic asked, "He's acting weird."

"Beats me. Now hurry up and make some snowballs so we can have a harder time running out of ammunition." Chameleon replied.

"May I ask who will be doing what when the round starts?" Larvesta asked as a few members of the Blazikens started to gather snow.

"You, Magmar, Darumaka, and I shall be the team to attack the base from behind," Charmeleon replied, "It will be easier for us to create snowballs on the fly due to us having hands and multiple limbs."

"I will not let my team down." Magmar said as she placed a snowball on the ground where a small pile was starting to grow.

"I'm going to destroy these punks!" Litleo exclaimed as she stomped the ground in anger.

"Yeah, you do that."

 **-000-**

"You may start now!" Lopunny's voice cut through the field as it started to change slightly, the once flat field now very uneven, "Oh, and some changes had to be made to make this more interesting!"

 **-000-**

Charmeleon, Larvesta, Magmar, and Darumaka silently made their way to the other building made of snow. The new terrain made it easier to sneak around, even making it so Charmeleon's tail was easily hidden despite the flame.

As the Blazikens slowly made their way to the base, there was no movement within the Flareons' building.

"Where are they?" Numel asked with a growl. He was to keep watch over the other four members from his spot next to a window. "I have not seen any signs of the other team."

"Are they planning the same thing as us?" Torchic asked.

"If they are, I will destroy them!" Litleo exclaimed, fire in her eyes.

"I doubt it, I can almost everything from here," Numel replied, "Now shut up."

"Numel, why were you so nice to Charmeleon yet rude to everyone else?" Torchic asked, "Do you want to fight me?"

"It's none of your business!" Numel exclaimed as he glared at the chick.

"Oh, a sexy man with a sexy voice." Litleo purred as she strutted her way towards Numel. Numel faintly blushed but still growled at her.

Lampent grabbed Litleo and placed her back in her original place, "Stay." He ordered before floating away.

"Fine." Litleo grumbled as she yawned.

"Wait, what's this?" Numel asked as he saw a bit of movement from the other building.

Charmeleon and the others had just reached the back of the Flareons' building where an opening for a door was. Curious, Charmeleon walked into the building, a snowball at the ready. Magmar and Darumaka had followed him while Larvesta stayed outside, just in case.

"Something's not right…" Charmeleon muttered.

"Now!" A voice exclaimed. Seconds later, before the Blazikens could react, they were covered in snowballs as the Flareons seemingly appeared.

"Psychic and the power of deception. A deadly combo that few would be able to withstand. It was an honor battling against you." Braixen said as she bowed to the Blazikens.

"Fuck!" Charmeleon exclaimed as he started to stomp out of the building.

"Chill man, chill." Darumaka told the lizard as they and Magmar left the area.

"Charmeleon, Magmar, and Darumaka are all out!" Lopunny called.

"What?" Litleo exclaimed, "Those idiots had to go and get themselves eliminated so early! Damnit!" She growled as she started to slash at random things within the building.

"Litleo, calm down!" Numel exclaimed as the cat jumped onto the pile of the snowballs. She started to destroy their ammunition as Torchic and Numel ran towards her.

"What are you doing?" Torchic asked as she ran over. However, when the two reached the normal type, the entire pile of snowballs was just snow.

"We're doomed." Numel said with a sigh.

 **-000-**

 **Numel growled to himself as he glared at the camera, "First we get three teammates out within minutes and then the stupid cat destroys our ammunition! Damnit!"**

 **-000-**

 **Emboar smiled to himself, "Wow, I am surprised that Braixen's trick worked for a big guy like myself. She's a great magician."**

 **-000-**

Larvesta, who was still over by the Flareon's building, smirked to himself. His teammates may be out, but he was still ready to fight!

Gathering a few snowballs, Larvesta carefully balanced them in his hands before he shot a String Shot towards a window located on the higher half on the building. He slowly pulled himself up while he somehow held onto the snowballs. Once he reached the window, he pulled himself onto the ledge as he surveyed the building. He saw a few Flareons making more snowballs, perfect targets for him!

Larvesta aimed a shot at Growlithe, the smallest of the Flareons within the building and the hardest to aim at once they all start moving. The bug smirked to himself as he threw the snowball at the pup, easily hitting him. Growlithe felt himself get hit and he looked around, confused.

He then spotted two more snowballs fly into the room, striking Emboar and Torkoal. He then looked up and saw Larvesta in the window, another snowball in his hand.

"Take cover!" Growlithe shouted to his other two teammates that were still in, which were Slugma and Salandit.

"What?" Slugma asked before she was hit by Larvesta's snowball, which caused her to sneeze. Salandit picked up a snowball as Larvesta reached for one as well. However, Larvesta noticed that he had no more snowballs left.

"Huh, will you look at that," Larvesta muttered to himself, "Oh well." With that, Larvesta used Strong Shot on the other side of the building, and he used it as a vine to dodge Salandit's snowball.

"There's no way I will be able to hit him…" Salandit commented as he saw the bug fly around the room by using Strong Shot. The poison type sighed as he picked up another snowball. He tried to aim it but Larvesta was just too fast.

"Eh, I give up." Salandit muttered as he threw the snowball directly above him. Larvesta, who was swinging above Salandit at the time, did not notice the snowball until he felt it hit him.

"Growlithe, Emboar, Torkoal, Slugma, and Larvesta are all out!"

"Huh."

 **-000-**

 **Salandit stared at the camera with wide eyes, "I-I actually did something? How?!" He then shook his head in disbelief, "Eh, it must've been luck. A fluke. There's no way I would be able to do that again."**

 **-000-**

 **Larvesta gave the camera a dazzling smile, "I may have gotten out but I believe I increased that Salandit's confidence a little. I'll gladly throw any challenge to make someone feel even a little bit better!"**

 **-000-**

"Are you sure this would work?" Nintales asked her two companions as Ponyta pumped herself up.

"Of course! We need to lead them out anyways!" Ponyta replied with a smirk.

"Madam, is there a chance that there could be another Blaziken hiding in our base? We just lost three people before Salandit took him out." Braixen said as Torkoal slowly made his way over towards them.

"I highly doubt that." Torkoal said as he laughed a bit, "They sent those that had hands. It's very likely that the ones that did not have hands stayed behind, which is who we need to lure out."

"Let's do this!" Ponyta exclaimed, "Get the snowballs ready!" With that, she started to sprint towards the other building. Before she almost hit the side of the building, the pony quickly swerved to the right, passing the openings of the building.

"Damnit!" Numel exclaimed, "We don't have the stupid snowballs to get her! We're too slow!"

"Hear that?" Ninetales asked, "Let's hurry before they get snowballs." With that, Ninetales and Braixen quickly made their way towards the other building. Braixen carried two snowballs while Ninetales carried one snowball in her mouth. Since the snow was made so heat was unable to melt it, the snowball did not melt in her mouth.

"Shit, they're coming!" Numel exclaimed before Braixen pelted him with a snowball. Ninetales threw the other snowball up in the air, in which Braixen leapt up and grabbed. The small jump was enough to give Braixen the aim to hit Torchic, which she did.

"How?" The chick asked before she grumbled to herself.

"Ugh, I wish I was able to make snowballs like them." Litleo complained as Braixen and Ninetales entered the building. Braixen made quick work of Litleo before the two started to look around for Lampent.

"Where's that ghost?" Ninetales asked as she entered another room.

"Numel, Torchic, Litleo, and Torkoal are all out!"

"What?" Braixen and Ninetales quickly made their way back towards Torkoal, who was covered in snow.

"Watch out!" Torkoal called out to them as Salandit started running from his base.

"Goodbye." A voice muttered behind the two females. A snowball flew past the two before it somehow exploded, covering the two in snow.

"Braixen and Ninetales are out!"

"Well played…" Ninetales commented as she and Braixen quickly got out of the way. Salandit, who saw the entire thing, froze as Lampent slowly floated towards him, another snowball in his hands.

"Goodbye." Lampent muttered, loud enough for Salandit to hear. The lizard sighed before he threw the snowball directly above him once again. It went well earlier, why not try again.

Unbeknownst to the poison type, Ponyta was sprinting towards the two, and once she saw the snowball get throw up into the air, she knew what to do. She increased her speed before she jumped, headbutting the snowball. The snowball rocketed towards Lampent, who did not have time to react. As Lampent threw his snowball at Salandit, he was hit in the face by a random snowball. Afterwards, Lampent's snowball exploded, covering all three in snow and hitting Torkoal in the face, who was still on the ground.

"And the Flareons win the first challenge of the day!" Lopunny exclaimed as she appeared next to Torkoal, "That means they get the reward for the snowboarding challenge!"

"Yay!" Growlithe yelled as he bounced over towards Lopunny, "That challenge was so much fun! I bet the snowboarding will be as well!"

"We will see," Lopunny replied, "Altaria, if you may?" With that, all of the Pokemon were teleported to the top of the mountain, all free from the snow they were just covered by.

 **-000-**

 **Salandit held his head in his hands, "I did it twice? Is it more than just pure luck? There's no way that was skill!" He shook his head, "Or was it…?"**

 **-000-**

 **Lampent stared at the camera with a deadpan expression, "Meh."**

 **-000-**

 **Ponyta smiled at the camera as she jumped around a bit, "Woah! That was such a rush! I've got to hand it to the little dude, Salandit threw that up at the perfect time!"**

 **-000-**

Lopunny lead the two teams towards a pile of snowboards, all different sizes, each with a different contestant's name on it. She stopped and turned around before she spoke, "Before I explain the challenge, the Flareons' reward is choosing a member of the opposite team to sit out of the challenge."

The Flareons looked to Torkoal, who laughed to himself, "Trusting this turtle here? Alright, I shall do my best to choose the best person," Torkoal narrowed his eyes as he analyzed the other team, "Due to his body shape, Charmeleon must sit out."

"Damnit!" Charmeleon exclaimed, "I was actually good at snowboarding too!"

"So we no longer need this board." Lopunny said as she held up the starter's snowboard. Once the board vanished, she continued, "So that means Charmeleon cannot be voted for tonight."

"Now I'm okay with that."

"Anyways, the challenge is a simple one. All of you will line up and will start snowboarding down this hill. The last person still snowboarding will win this challenge for their team and immunity from tonight's elimination." Lopunny explained as she handed out the boards.

The host helped set up the contestants as they lined the top of the hill. Once she moved the final Pokemon into place, she stepped back, "When I say go, you may start."

"I do not know how to work this," Magmar stated, "How do I make it start?"

"I'll give you a little push if you need it," Lopunny told her, "Oh, and I've made it so you cannot receive a major injury if you fall. Maybe a little pain. 3… 2… 1…"

"Go!" With that, most of the contestants were off. A few, like Magmar, were stuck at the top but a little shove sent them on their way.

"I hope my team wins this…" Charmeleon muttered through clenched teeth.

"Wanna fly over them in a bubble?" Lopunny asked with a giggle.

"Sure…"

 **-000**

 **-** **Charmeleon merely shook his head, "This show is pretty weird yet pretty cool."**

 **-000-**

In the lead were Larvesta, Ninetales, Litleo, Ponyta, Braixen, and surprisingly Emboar. Despite being a very heavy Pokemon, Emboar had a rather steady balance. Behind them were Torkoal, Torchic, Numel, Darumaka, and Growlithe. In the back were Magmar, Slugma, Salandit, and Lampent, who had no legs.

"This is so much fun!" Emboar shouted as he evaded a tree, "I never would have done this if I didn't join this competition!"

"I agree, this is amazing!" Ponyta replied.

Litleo was still made about their loss from earlier, so she silently grumbled to herself before she gained an idea. There were a lot of trees, which were affected by fire type moves!

"There amazing Larvesta cannot be beaten in this challenge, it's just too epic!" Larvesta exclaimed as he smirked at Braixen and Ninetales, "Sorry ladies, but you're going down!" With that, he shot a String Shot at one tree before quickly pressing the end of the thread to one hs just passed. It created a type of tripwire that was in the way of the Flareon females.

"Sorry sir, but that cannot defeat the likes of me!" Braixen quickly used Psychic to raise a mound of snow for the two to jump over, easily avoiding the thread that would have taken them out.

Ninetales landed rather heavily but she quickly straightened herself out. She gave a small smile, this was definitely fun, and she hadn't experienced fun like this before.

Litleo smirked as she passed by a tree. Quickly, she fired a Flamethrower at it, quickly making it snap because of the sudden heat. The tree fell over, which blocked part of the path down the mountain.

 **-000-**

 **Braixen smiled at the ca** **mera, "The little bug is surprising. He seems to have a lot of tricks up his sleeve, a magician in his own way. He will be an honorable opponent in the future."**

 **-000-**

 **Litleo yawned as she smirked at the camera, "I will make my team win! No one can defeat this ferocious lioness!"**

 **"...That last challenge didn't count!"**

 **-000-**

"Woo-hoo!" Growlithe yelled as his tongue flailed wildly in the wind.

"Uh-oh!" Torchic exclaimed as a tree collapsed in their path, covering a good portion of it, "That's not good!"

Torkoal, who was on the edge of it, quickly maneuvered his board so he can get past it. However, the rest of the Pokemon next to him were taken out, "I wonder why they didn't try to burn their way through the tree. Oh well."

"Growlithe, Torchic, Numel, and Darumaka are out!"

 **-000-**

In the last group, they were far enough away from the fallen tree to move out of its way. Magmar was having a bit of difficulty staying balanced while Lampent and Slugma were slowly moving their boards due to not having legs. Salandit held onto the board in fear, making it slow down slightly.

"This is difficult to do." Magmar muttered to herself before a tree root tripped up her board, sending the spitting fire Pokemon sprawled in the snow.

Lampent continued past Magmar, not even caring that his teammate was out. However, he gained an idea dn fired a Shadow Ball at Slugma, knocking her into Salandit which sent the two rolling down the hill. Magmar gaped at this display, unable to believe the ghost type.

"Magmar, Slugma, and Salandit are out!"

 **-000-**

 **Magmar glared at the camera, "He does not care who gets hurt! He must be stopped!"**

 **-000-**

Litleo growled, everyone was ahead of her! She needs to take on of them out now, so her team can win, she will not lose! The cat leaned forward to try to pick up more speed so her aim could be accurate, and it became successful, she was gaining on Emboar. Once she reached a certain distance, Litleo unleashed a Flamethrower at Emboar's board, buring the back of it so chunks fell away.

Emboar felt the board start to move in random directions for some reason as the back became a bit bumpy. His eyes widened as he started to steer towards a large rock, unable to control the snowboard, "What's happening?!" He exclaimed before the rock knocked him off his board.

Litleo cackled to herself before she hit Emboar's large body, knocking her off of her board. She growled to herself, "Fucking fatass!"

"Emboar and Litleo are out!"

 **-000-**

Lampent had a rather smooth ride down the hill. However, as he neared the tripwire Larvesta set, he was unable to maneuver himself away from the mound Braixen made. He ended up flying off of the mound, crashing into the mountain.

"Lampent is out!"

 **-000-**

"Oh no!" Ponyta exclaimed as she flew off of the side of a mound, which knocked her from her board. She groaned as Ninetales, Larvesta, and Braixen were left, side by side.

"Ponyta is out!"

"I have to compliment you ladies, you are able to keep up with me. Not many can do that!" Larvesta told the two as he dodged a tree, "But you must be eliminated!" With that, Larvesta grabbed some snow with his String Shot and threw it at Braixen. Braixen easily dodged out of the way which let the snow hit Ninetales in the face. Unable to see, Ninetales slammed into a tree.

"Ninetales is out!"

"I'm sorry m'lord, but you are the one who's going down!" Braixen exclaimed as she used Psychic to raise a mound in front of Larvesta. Caught off guard, he flew off the mound, but he caught himself with a String Shot.

The two continued to throw move after move after move at each other. String Shot tripwires, Psychic mounds, annoying Bug Buzzes, and fire dancing between the two. It was like a routine the two had practiced for years, a move being thrown, a careful dodge. But it was bound to end. There had to be a winner in this dangerous dance.

Larvesta shot another String Shot, this time at Braixen's board, and he pulled. The board was pulled upwards as Braixen was lifted into the air until she was perpendicular to the ground. However, Braixen wasn't going to let herself get out so easily. As she started to fall, Braixen used Psychic on Larvesta's board before she threw it sideways, knocking the bug into the snow.

"Braixen and Larvesta are out! That leaves Torkoal left standing and the Flareons winning the first challenge!" A cheer went up from the Flareons along the mountain as Charmeleon groaned.

The contestants were teleported to a building on another mountain, this time it was a ski lodge. Lopunny smiled at the group as they gathered their bearings, "That means the Blazikens are going to the first elimination tonight. But that's later tonight, for now, have fun at this ski lodge. You have a few hours!" With that, Lopunny disappeared before their eyes. The contestants stayed in the same position for a few moments until they jumped into action.

 **-000-**

"Now, as you all know, I will call your names. If I do, you are safe, and the eliminated person is to never return," Lopunny explained, "I have all of your votes, and to be honest, I am not surprised."

"I have the snacks!" Altaria exclaimed as she flew over with a plate of marshmallows.

"Thank you, Altaria," Lopunny said as she picked up a marshmallow, "The first one safe in Chameleon because of his immunity."

Charmeleon caught the marshmallow with a smirk, "At least I'm not in last place like I expected."

"The next three safe are Torchic, Darumaka, and Larvesta."

Torchic caught her marshmallow in her peck before she smiled, "Yes! I'm safe!"

The treat sailed over Darumaka's head as he shrugged, "That's pretty cool, brah."

Larvesta snatched the treat out of the air with String Shot, "That was to be expected, I am awesome!"

"Numel is also safe this night."

"Obviously," Numel commented as the treat flew over his head, "Hey!"

"Magmar, Lampent, and Litleo, you all recieved votes. Magmar, you did not do well in either challenge, so others may think you are not useful."

"I am sorry team." Magmar said as she hung her head.

"Lampent, I have no idea why you received votes. And Litleo, you destroyed your ammunition and caused your teammates to fall off of their snowboards."

"Hah, as if my team could vote me off!" Litleo exclaimed with a smirk, "I am too great to get rid of!"

"The first Pokemon eliminated off of Total Pokemon Blazing Inferno is…" Lopunny threw the two marshmallows, "Litleo!"

"What!?" Litleo exclaimed as Magmar caught her treat while Lampent did not.

"Thank you for giving me another chance, team. I will not let you down." Magar said before she ate her marshmallow.

"How dare you vote me out!" Litleo continued, "You will regret this! Sin will creep into your souls, temptation will ruin you all! And that'll be because of me!"

"Litleo, you must board the Limo of Losers to get to the hotel." Lopunny told the cat. Litleo rolled her eyes before she walked towards the car parked near the elimination area.

"You guys should go get some sleep. It was an exhausting day, you must be tired." The Blazikens nodded their heads before they started to leave the area, leaving Lopunny and Altaria alone.

"That was a fun challenge." Altaria spoke up.

"I agree," Lopunny replied with a smile before she turned towards the camera, "That is it for this episode! Make sure to stay tuned for the next one to see who is leaving next on Total Pokemon… Blazing Inferno!"

 **-000-**

 **Charmeleon growled as he glared at the camera, "I talked to most of the team. I heard and saw what Litleo did today, and she sabotaged our team a lot. And she's really annoying, so goodbye!"**

 **-000-**

 **Darumaka gave the camera a peace sign, "Litleo needs to chill a bit. So she needs to go."**

 **-000** **-**

 **Lampent stared at the camera with the same blank expression, "Litleo."**

 **-000-**

 **Larvesta gave the camera a dazzling smile, "Litleo screwed up our team. Even I can't carry that! She needs to go."**

 **-000-**

 **Magmar glared at the camera, "Lampent needs to go."**

 **-000-**

 **Numel sighed, "Charmeleon told us to vote for Litleo so I will.** **"**

 **-000-**

 **Litleo rolled her eyes before she yawned, "Magmar did the worst in the challenges. She'll be useless in the future."**

 **-000-**

 **Torchic shook her head, "I would vote for Larvesta but after what I saw today… He's a valuable teammate so I shall vote for Litleo."**

 **-000-**

 **Flamig Flareons:** Ponyta, Braixen, Ninetails, Slugma, Salandit, Emboar, Torkoal, Growlithe

 **Blazing Blazikens:** Torchic, Magmar, Charmeleon, Darumaka, Lampent, Larvesta, Numel

 **-000-**

16th- Litleo, aka Lilith (The Seven Sins)

 **-000-**

 **And there we have it! The first challenge of TPBI, which was actually pretty fun for me and the characters. Hopefully that'll be a focus for this series, but we will see.** **The first one out is Litleo! The crazy chick that showed signs for all seven sins, or at least tried. She did not stay very long to show much. Originally, I was planning on keeping her for longer, but I decided I had enough assholes and borderline assholes. So, it would make sense for a louder one to get voted out early.** **However, she still has plans. I will not give away if she's going to be apart of the eight moving onto another season, but she will appear again. Because everyone will at some point! So, she will have her development!** **Anyways, I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter and be sure to leave a review! See ya next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome to the third chapter of Total Pokemon Blazing Inferno! Last time, the contestants finally entered the simulation chamber and found themselves in a snowy area. After getting split into teams, the contestants engaged in a snowball fight and then a snowboarding competition. Torkoal from the Flareons won the challenge for his team and Litleo was the first to leave. What will happen next? Stay tuned!**

 **-000-**

In the boy's trailer, all of the guys were asleep except for one, as it was four in the morning. Darumaka slipped out of his bed and silently moved to stand at Growlithe's bed as the pup slept peacefully. A small smile on his face, Darumaka just stared at Growlithe as the pup started to squirm in his bed, a little disturbed by an unknown force. And Darumaka just stared, his smile widening.

After awhile, Darumaka moved towards Charmeleon's bed, where the lizard was cuddling with his pillow. As the morning continued on, Darumaka continued to move around the trailer, standing over each bed with a wide smile on his face. Before it was time for the rest of the guys to wake up, Darumaka made his way towards his bed. After he slid back into bed, the other males slowly started to get up after an alarm rang out. Darumaka slid back out of bed before he followed the others out, still smiling.

 **-000-**

After everyone was awake and left the area, Braixen stayed behind to practice her new material. Ninetales wanted to go off to the library alone and the fox did not have any other friends, so might as well practice. However… She did not have her next routine in mind. She's done a lot, and her creativity had dried at at this point. The fox sighed as she sat down at a bench that surrounds the area.

"What's up?" A chipper voice asked as Growlithe padded over towards Braixen. The pup sat in front of the fox before she was able to respond.

"Oh, I'm just thinking," Braixen replied as she gave Growlithe a small smile. "What about you, m'lord? Why not catch up to the others or go look for them?"

"Well…" Growlithe started as he shuffled his feet a bit, "I can't… Go into crowded places like the city alone. I start to get dizzy and I get a headache and I get an upset stomach and I feel very weird and-"

"Growlithe, calm down," Braixen said as she cut off Growlithe's rant. "It sounds like you have some anxiety about being in crowds. That's perfectly fine, no need to freakout."

"S-Sorry…" Growlithe mumbled as he looked down. "I don't do well around other Pokemon. Except for friends, I like playing with friends but it's hard for me to make friends."

"Well, in my opinion, you're doing a wonderful job talking to me," Braixen replied with a giggle.

"That's because we're friends!" Growlithe immediately replied as his head shot up. "I can easily talk to any of my friends!"

"Friends?" Braixen repeated, slightly confused.

"Yeah!" Growlithe grinned at Braixen before he lowered his ears. "U-Unless you don't wanna be friends then I'd be okay with that and-"

"No no, I want to be friends!" Braixen quickly replied, cutting off the pup once again. "I just thought the idea of friends was… Different. Ninetales was my first friend but it was because we were so alike. And we talked a lot more than you and I have."

"Well… Let's change that then." Growlithe's ears perked back up as he smiled at Braixen once again, "You'd be surprised how alike you are with another person, all you have to do is start talking. And we can start by me helping you with whatever you were thinking of."

Braixen blinked at Growlithe before she stood up, "Yeah, great idea!" She tilted her head slightly as she gave Growlithe a smile with her eyes closed, "You are wise, Growlithe. I'd be honored to receive your advice."

"Yay! So, what were you thinking about before I came by?"

"It was something simple, I was just thinking about what to put into my next magic routine," Braixen replied as she made a card appear in her hand. "I seem to have run out of creativity."

"Oh! Oh! I have an idea!"

 **-000-**

 **Braixen smiled slightly at the camera, "Growlithe is a joy to be around. He's like a child in a good way, always positive and he has a great imagination. He gave me a lot of great ideas that might just work."**

 **-000-**

 **Growlithe's tongue flopped around as he smiled, "Braixen is such a cool person! I'm glad we're friends, she even taught me magic tricks!" He pulled out a deck of cards before pulling one out, "Is this your card?"**

 **-000-**

Emboar exited the movie theater with Darumaka and Slugma right behind him. The fighting type chuckled slightly as he turned to face the other two Pokemon.

"How'd you like the movie?" Emboar asked with a hopeful expression, "This was the sixth time watching it because it's just… Amazing."

"It was wo-wo-wo" Slugma quickly sneezed, a few embers flying out that quickly fizzled out, "Wonderful. I did not expect the two to get together, they looked to be a terrible couple that would never work out but I was surprised. A great movie!"

Emboar chuckled at Slugma's response, "I knew the two were perfect for each other after their first interaction the first time I watched," Emboar told the two as he held his head in thought. "After analyzing their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses, I was able to assess how likely the two would get together. After their first interaction, I saw how well the two went together and knew that the best result would be John."

"Really?" Slugma asked. "That sounds really complicated. How did you learn how to do that?"

"Simple, really. I didn't like how I looked, as I'm clearly fat. After learning of my conditioned, I tried really hard to start to love myself, and after watching some videos online, I learned how to pick out one's positive traits and really focus on them. After awhile, I started to put couples together in my head based off of their positives and eventually negatives. The first relationship I put together did not work out, but after some practice, I was able to do it well enough," Emboar explained. "I guess you can call me a shipper, but I'm not hardcore about it."

"That sounds amazing!" Slugma exclaimed. "Very interesting. I wish I could do something like that… Or anything."

Emboar chuckled again, "Give it time, you have a lot of potential."

"I agree, but for now, all you need to do is chill and wait for the opportunity to come." Darumaka spoke up.

Emboar turned towards Darumaka, "What about you? How did you like the movie?"

"The Pikachu was pretty chill." Darumaka replied.

Emboar and Slugma exchanged looks before Emboar spoke up, "But… He was the crazy stalker."

Darumaka smiled at the two, "Yeah…" Emboar and Slugma exchanged looks once again, disturbed. "C'mon, let's go grab some grub. I heard of this cool place around the corner."

Darumaka started to walk ahead, Emboar and Slugma following after a few seconds.

 **-000-**

 **Emboar gave the camera a look, "That was… Creepy. Maybe there's more to Darumaka than what he lets on."**

 **-000-**

 **Slugma gave the camera a smile, "Emboar is an inspiration! He strives to lose weight despite his disorder and he has a unique talent! I should try to be more like him…"**

 **-000-**

As the day approached noon, Torkoal decided to return to the trailers. After helping a few people that morning, Torkoal decided that he needed a break and the nice, relaxing trailers would do. On his way towards the trailers, Torkoal spotted Salandit in the clearing. A few days ago, the hosts placed a few benches as well as other items around the area, and Salandit seemed to be kneeling in front of something.

"Hello Salandit," Torkoal greeted as he made his way towards the lizard. "What are you doing over here?"

"Ah!" Salandit yelled as he jumped towards his feet, "T-Torkoal, how long have you been there?!"

"I had just arrived." Torkoal chuckled. "Why so jumpy? Are you hiding something?"

"U-Um… No," Salandit lied as he gave Torkoal a smile. Torkoal rose a brow at the poison type's change in personality, in which Salandit sighed in response, "Fine, if you really want to know, just looked behind me."

Torkoal laughed to himself as he peered around Salandit to see… A lot of budding flowers. Torkoal was amazed on how well the flowers were doing… And how he never noticed them before, "These look wonderful."

"I-It's nothing," Salandit mumbled as he looked down. "Just something I like to do… Nothing special about it."

"Ah, but it's not nothing," Torkoal replied. "You said it yourself that you enjoy doing this it seems. But I feel as if there's more to it, am I right?"

Salandit blinked at the turtle after he lifted his head back up, "What do you mean?"

"Well, all we've seen of you has been you being depressed. You showed no interest in much and the things that you have shown interest in, you eventually blew off. For example, how you seemed to enjoy the gym but stopped going."

Salandit groaned, Torkoal was too perceptive, "Fine, fine, there is more to it. But you have to promise not to tell anyone of this, it's embarrassing."

Torkoal raised a brow, "There was multiple things wrong with that statement, but I agree. Go ahead."

Salandit sighed as he rubbed his left arm, "Well… It may seem strange coming from me, but I believe that all life is precious. All life must be nurtured so that it can be at its best! Something that I've never experienced… And I enjoy helping out life! So here are the flowers…"

"I see," Torkoal replied until he started laughing a moment later. "I love when people preach advice that they should really follow! You need to nurture yourself instead of being down in the dumps all of the time, like you do with these flowers."

"Huh?" Salandit asked as he gave the turtle a confused look.

"'Nurture your mind with great thoughts. For you will never go any higher than you think.' Benjamin Disraeli." Torkoal replied before he turned to walk away. His work here was done.

Salandit sat down in thought as Torkoal left before he turned back towards his flowers.

 **-000-**

 **Torkoal gave off another old man laugh, "I can see that the lizard is finally starting on the right path of life. The gears are finally turning, I can see them."**

 **-000-**

Ninetales walked up the stairs of the library to find a nice spot to read her books. Most of the places in the city were too noisy for Ninetales to concentrate, so the library was her best bet.

Upon reaching the top floor, she found Lampent floating at a table reading what looks to be blueprints. Curious, Ninetales made her ways towards the ghost type, setting her books on the table once she reached it.

"Hello," Ninetales greeted as she sat down. Lampent looked at the fox with the same expressionless face, similar to hers even. Seconds passed before Lampent returned to his reading.

"What are you reading?" Ninetales asked as she peered at the paper. It looked to be the blueprints to a building that looked familiar.

"Like building." Lampent replied as he continued to study the layout.

"I see…" Ninetales trailed off. She shook her head before she started to take the books off of her small pile, eventually placing the book Litleo gave her next to Lampent.

"What this?" Lampent asked as he pointed at the book. Ninetales, who was reading the summary of another book, looked over.

"Oh, just a random book. Litleo gave it to me a few days ago and I've been meaning to read it." Ninetales replied as she picked up the book. She started to read the summary of it before she set it back down, "Apparently it gives great power to those that complete the rituals."

"Should try." Lampent replied as he pointed at the book again.

"You are a man of little words." Ninetales stated before she scoffed. "But the book isn't real. Just a lot of crazy talk."

"Work, reward," Lampent stated. "No work, no problem. Should try."

"Well… You do have a point…" Ninetales said as she stared at the book. It was rather tempting… But she shouldn't. It's not real… Right?

"Go do." Lampent broke the fox's trance. She immediately grabbed the book and left the building, leaving her pile of books behind. Lampent watched her go before going back to the drawing of the building.

 **-000-**

 **Ninetales stared at the book in her hands, "Lampent's right… If it somehow works, even though it's not real, then I get power…" She then looked at the camera, "But if it doesn't, nothing bad happens. Might as well…"**

 **-000-**

Magmar was once again in the gym, training since she had no friends to talk to. Well, she did have friends, but she has a hard time talking to others, thus, she was once again alone. She didn't mind though, she enjoyed being alone as well.

After she finished her workout, Magmar took a seat in front of a tv, the news on. Nothing new in the world, just the usual crime and the hate against legendaries, a daily thing. Magmar sighed as she finished off her water.

"Magmar! It's been awhile," Torchic called out as she entered the gym. The chick quickly ran over to Magmar's spot, which was not too far from the front door, "How's it been?"

"Oh, hello Torchic," Magmar greeted. "It has been going well, how are you?"

"I'm great!" Torchic exclaimed. "After that jerk Larvesta decided to insult my training, I've been training even more!"

"He insulted your training?" Magmar repeated. "How so?"

"He said I wasn't training hard even though I trained that way all of the time," Torchic answered as she hopped onto a chair. "He basically said I was weak, that I was not putting enough effort into it."

"Are you sure that was what he was saying?" Magmar asked, a small smile starting to form. "It sounds like he was trying to give you some advice."

"How can insulting someone be advice?!"

"He did not insult you," Magmar calmly replied. "He was trying to say that to properly train, you need to push yourself. You said you train that same way all of the time, and if you only do that, you cannot grow stronger. You need to go beyond your limits."

"Oh… I see…" Torchic muttered as she looked down. "So he wasn't being a jerk, he was trying to help. I should go apologize…"

Magmar hummed in agreement, "I am curious, why the sudden talk about your training? You were so secretive about it before."

"Because you're my friend," Came the simple response.

"I see. Since I am your friend and you are my friend, I can help you train," Magmar offered. "I can make sure you break past your limits."

"You know what, that sounds great!" Torchic exclaimed. "Do you want to start now?"

"Sure."

 **-000-**

 **Torchic groaned slightly as she held her side, "Magmar is really strong. She destroyed me in our mock battle," She shook her head slightly before she smiled. "But I'm glad she cleared up Larvesta said before. I should apologize to him asap!"**

 **-000-**

Numel belched as he left a cafe that was well known for its deep fried food. He had decided to try it out and it was worth it to him.

"Best food I've ever had." Numel said out loud as he walked the streets of the city.

"Dude, you do know that stuff can kill you, right?" A voice asked from behind Numel. He groaned as he turned to look who it was, just to find Ponyta right behind him.

"What do you want, horse thing?" Numel lazily asked as he stopped walking.

"Nothing much, had nothing to do so I decided to just hang around for a bit," Ponyta replied. "Now I know the reason why you're so chubby, you eat so unhealthy."

Numel growled at her, "Shut up about my weight, it's not your business."

Ponyta blinked at the camel, "You were making fun of Emboar for being fat even though he has a condition dude. You, however, have no excuse."

"Whatever," Numel rolled his eyes as he turned around, done with the conversation.

"Hey! We can both go running to help you get the weight off!" Ponyta suggested as she ran in front of the ground type, a smirk on her face.

"No, I'm good," Numel replied, pushing past the horse.

"Aw, why not?" Numel glared at Ponyta, clearly annoyed.

"Because I like being heavy!" Numel exclaimed. "It's weird and I'm kind of disgusted by it but I really do prefer to be chubby or fat or whatever you want to call my size. I don't even know why I prefer it, but I do. Now leave me alone."

"Well, that does make a bit of sense even though it doesn't," Ponyta said with a laugh. "But I don't plan on leaving you alone just yet."

Numel's glare grew even more, "You're annoying," he scoffed, "But I am curious as to why you do that."

"Do what?" Ponyta asked as she tilted her head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Your personality swaps. You go from chill to hyper back to chill back to hyper," Numel replied. "It's rather annoying and I'd prefer if you stop."

Ponyta frowned, "I still have no idea what you're talking about."

"You should pay attention then." Numel started to walk away once again, "Now leave me alone."

 **-000-**

 **Numel glared at the camera, "Do not say anything about what I said! I just prefer it, end of story. If I hear any comments about my weight, I will kill someone, understand?"**

 **-000-**

 **Ponyta glanced at the camera, clearly confused, "I have a consistent personality, don't I? What Numel said is impossible, calm and hyper are two opposite things! I can't be switching between the two, right?"**

 **-000-**

Charmeleon smirked at the Simisage in front of him, the monkey clearly close to fainting. He narrowed his eyes before he sped forward, a Fire Fang at the ready. Before the grass type could react, Charmeleon clamped onto his arm.

"Ow!" The Simisage exclaimed before Charmeleon threw him a ways away. After a few seconds, the grass type was still on the ground, meaning Charmeleon won.

"Easy," Charmeleon said to himself as he began to walk away.

"Nice battle, you have great technique," A voice said above Charmeleon. The lizard looked up to find Larvesta on a tree branch above him.

"Thanks, I guess," Charmeleon replied before he continued walking away.

Larvesta chuckled before he jumped down, landing on Charmeleon's head, "You should get the guy's number instead of just leaving him there."

"What are you talking about?" Charmeleon asked, too lazy to be annoyed at the bug on his head.

"Well, I saw the way you looked at him during the battle," Larvesta replied with a wink. "Got some nice views, I bet. But you were clearly interested, so why not try?"

"Yeah, no thanks." Charmeleon sighed as he shook his head, "I already know he wouldn't be interested in me, I have a terrible personality. No point in trying if I already know the answer."

"Now you're starting to sound like Salandit. Does that run in lizards or something?" Larvesta joked. Charmeleon said nothing, "Well, if you truly think your personality is terrible, then why not change it?"

"Easier said than done," Charmeleon answered. "People never truly change. At some point, they will revert to their original personality."

"So this is how you were your entire life?" Larvesta asked, just to be met with silence. "Exactly, people can change."

"Whatever." Charmeleon stopped at a clear area as he glanced at the bug on his head, "Wanna battle?"

 **-000-**

 **Charmeleon shrugged, "Eh, the bug has a point I guess. I'm smart enough to acknowledge that. I'll think about trying it, but for now, I'm here to win even though I'm going to lose."**

 **-000-**

 **Larvesta shot the camera a dazzling smile, "Is it bad that I forgot to tell the lizard that the monkey was clearly interested as well? No?" The bug chuckled as he shook his head. "It's clear that Charmeleon is not ready for a relationship, so it's best to forget about the Simisage for now."**

 **-000-**

"Wait, how does this button inform all of the competitors that you are waiting for the next challenge?" A Typhlosion asked, writing something down on the clipboard in his arms.

"I have no idea, you'll have to ask the engineers TPRT. They are the ones who designed this thing," Lopunny responded as she pressed the button.

After a few moments, all of the contestants arrived at the clearing where the simulation chamber was located. Altaria and Lopunny gave them a smile as Typhlosion read some notes on the clipboard.

"Before you say anything, who is this fool?" Numel asked as he threw his head in Typhlosion's direction. "Don't tell me he's a competitor too."

"He's an employee from TPRT," Altaria told Numel as she pointed at the badger. "He's here to inform us that the show is cancelled and that you all owe us money for everything." The contestants just stared at the dragon as Typhlosion shook his head.

Lopunny giggled, "Well, he is an employee at TPRT, and now he's an intern for us," she explained. "He's going to learn how to operate the chamber so Altaria can officially join us in our challenges. So is the co-host after all."

Typhlosion nodded in agreement, "I was the one who got this show to air now I'm being forced against my will to work here. I hate everything…"

"Sucks to suck," Numel muttered as the badger shot the camel a glare.

"Anyways, let's all hop into the simulation chamber for our next challenge!" Lopunny exclaimed. "No pun intended, of course."

"As long as it's hoperational," Emboar commented as he and a few others followed the rabbit into the simulation chamber. A few gave the large Pokemon weird looks while a few laughed.

"Hah!" Growlithe laughed as he entered the chamber. "I don't get it."

Once everyone was inside the chamber, Altaria turned towards Typhlosion, "Now, we get to press the big, red, shiny button of mass destruction to teleport them to the area of the challenge site. Once there, they must repopulate the world and we get to change the properties of the world they are in."

"What?" Typhlosion asked.

"Just push the button." Typhlosion shook his head with a sigh as he pressed the start button.

 **-000-**

The chamber once again morphed, but instead of a snowy field, the contestants found themselves in the sky. They were standing on some clouds that were somehow solid, and in front of them was what looked like an obstacle course made out of clouds. Behind them was a floating box with windows all around it, so whoever was standing inside of the box can see everything.

"We're literally on clouds…" Charmeleon deadpanned as he looked down. "Oh great, and there is no ground below us. So if we somehow fall, we die. Great."

"Not quite." Lopunny giggled as the contestants turned to face her, "If you fall, you are teleported to that flying box up there. There's no way I'd let you die!"

"I assume that's part of our challenge," Ninetales commented, a strange book wrapped by one of her tails. It was made so no one can tell what book she was carrying.

"You are correct," Lopunny replied. "Your next challenge will be a short but hard one. Some Pokemon of this world enjoy the rush of parkour in high areas."

"So we have to parkour on clouds?" Ponyta asked. "That sounds epic!"

"Yes. This will be your flying type challenge," Lopunny continued. "Both teams will have a parkour race with everyone going at the same time. As you continue forward, the clouds behind you will start disappearing. If you fall, well, you were already told what would happen."

"To avoid instant eliminations, there will be checkpoints. The first checkpoint will start making the clouds disappear from the starting point, which is right here. The next checkpoint will allow the use of pushing, and then the final checkpoint will allow the use of moves."

"You were able to deny the use of pushing others?" Braixen asked. "How were you able to do that?"

"Great question, one that I cannot answer," Lopunny answered. "The team who has someone reach the end or is left still racing will win the challenge. Now, you may start whenever you want." With that, Lopunny disappeared from the platform the contestants were located on.

"Let's go team!" Charmeleon exclaimed as everyone, save Slugma and Emboar, started running forward, jumping from their current platform onto the next cloud.

"I can't exactly jump…" Slugma commented after everyone left.

"And I'm rather heavy. May as well stay with you here," Emboar replied as he sat next to Slugma.

"Are you sure? I would be fine by myself, and you have a bit more of a chance compared to me."

"It's fine." Emboar waved off Slugma's concern with a chuckle.

 **-000-**

 **Slugma shook her head with worry, "Emboar is a pretty cool guy but staying behind may get him eliminated… Even though the same may happen with me."**

 **-000-**

Charmeleon easily took first with Larvesta, Ninetales, and Braixen right behind him. Magmar, compared to last time, was with the group as well as they easily jumped from cloud to cloud.

"Seems like it's us four once again," Charmeleon stated as he jumped to another platform, the rest following suite.

"It may happen again in the future," Ninetales replied as they finally made the first checkpoint. "It seems as if we are the strongest on our teams."

"I think the others have strengths in different areas." Magmar spoke up, "It is unfair to say that you are the strongest on your team."

"So far, it is true." Ninetales sighed as they heard Lopunny's voice ring out around them.

"Slugma and Emboar have been eliminated from the challenge!"

"Magmar has a point, m'lady," Braixen said as she tripped slightly. She easily corrected herself before she started to speak again, "Torkoal would not be as good at this challenge but may be good in a trivia challenge. We must not give up on our comrades so easily."

"You're right, Braixen. I'm sorry." Ninetales sighed as Larvesta easily passed the two ladies.

"Sorry ladies, but I have to go win this challenge for my team," Larvesta called back as he shot the two a dazzling smile. Charmeleon and Magmar glanced at each other as they were still stuck with the two.

 **-000-**

 **Charmeleon shrugged, "I have to hand it to the bug, he's pretty strong and pretty fast. Definitely going to be a threat later on in the game."**

 **-000-**

The second group, who were just reaching the first checkpoint, tried to go as fast as they can, but they had to slow down slightly. The group consisted of Growlithe, Lampent, who lazily floated along, Ponyta, and Salandit.

"Wow, those guys are so fast! Look how far ahead they are!" Growlithe exclaimed as he almost missed a jump. "And this is an amazing challenge! I'm having so much fun!"

"This challenge is the bomb!" Ponyta exclaimed as well, excited. "I hope we have even more exciting challenges like these!"

"I'm rather surprised that I can keep up…" Salandit muttered before he tripped. Thankfully, he was far enough from the edge to catch himself, and he started to run once again after he got up.

"The second checkpoint has been reached! You may push each other off now!"

"They even made it to the next checkpoint! Amazing!" Growlithe exclaimed as Lampent flew behind the pup. With little effort, the ghost type shoved Growlithe to the side, the pup screaming as he fell off the edge.

"Lampent!" Ponyta yelled as she stopped. "How could you just shove someone off like that? What if this was real life?"

Lampent stared at the horse, a blank expression on his face. Ponyta glared at the ghost type, and as soon as Salandit made it to their platform, Lampent pushed Ponyta off.

"Well then…" Salandit muttered as Lampent turned towards the lizard. Salandit sighed before he turned towards the edge, jumping off seconds later. Satisfied, Lampent continued in with the race, lazily floating through the jumps.

"Growlithe, Ponyta, and Salandit are all out!"

 **-000-**

 **Salandit sighed, "It was either get pushed off or jump myself. Either way, I would have been knocked out…"**

 **-000-**

"Is that even allowed?" Ponyta asked Lopunny, a frown on her face.

"Lampent floating? Yes, of course," Lopunny replied, "It is a race after all. Just floating like that doesn't mean you automatically win."

"But if he actually went faster, he could have easily won!" Ponyta exclaimed, annoyed.

"You could push him out of bounds." Lopunny giggled at this. "He could still be taken out. Out of bounds is out of bounds after all. Nobody is immune in this challenge."

Ponyta sighed as she turned to Emboar and Slugma, "How did you two get out so early?"

"Oh, Slugma can't jump and I'm a bit heavy so I wouldn't have gotten far," Emboar replied as Salandit appeared.

"That was terrifying…" Salandit muttered as he sat next to Growlithe.

"Well, I guess that wasn't your fault then…" Ponyta sighed as she got up to look at the course the others were still running in.

"Is it just me or did Ponyta's personality change a bit there?" Slugma whispered to Emboar, making sure the horse didn't hear.

"It did. Something must be up with her." Emboar replied at the same volume level.

Silence followed after that until Salandit spoke up, "We're going to lose, aren't we?"

 **-000-**

The farthest behind and closest to the disappearing clouds was the final group. Darumaka slowly made his way through the course, not bothered by the fact that his team could lose. Torchic was trying her hardest to go as fast as she can, but she was running out of energy, due to the jumps being very difficult. Torkoal and Numel were just naturally slow, Like Emboar, so they were unable to move that fast.

"This challenge is more annoying than fun," Numel complained as he stopped for a bit to catch his breath.

"Come on Numel! The disappearing clouds will catch up with you!" Torchic called to the camel.

"Just give me a moment, will ya?" Numel called back. He sat down on the cloud as Torkoal continued past him. Deciding to just chance it, Numel got back up and attempted to headbutt the turtle off, just to barely push him.

"You seem to lack in strength," Torkoal commented as he lined up his jump. He jumped onto the next cloud, barely able to make it, but knocking Torchic off in the process, "Whoops."

"Torchic is out!"

Numel groaned as he moved over towards the jump that he would have to make. He lost sight of Darumaka, who was right behind him, but he didn't care. With a grunt, Numel jumped onto the next platform, almost missing. He fell forward, too tired to continue on.

"Too tired to continue?" Torkoal asked with a smile. "That means out of this group, I have won the title."

Looking behind him, Numel noticed that the cloud he was just on was disappearing. As Torkoal lined up his next jump, Numel got back up. He was going to get out anyways, so he ran over to the turtle and used his weight to knock both of them off of the platform. Darumaka, who was behind Numel, shrugged and continued forward.

"Numel and Torkoal are out!"

 **-000-**

 **Numel glared at the camera, "Racing challenges are not my thing. I don't have the stamina to get that far, but at least I was able to take someone out."**

 **-000-**

"Just a few of us left then," Charmeleon commented with a chuckle. "I think it's time to spice things up!"

"What do you mean?" Magmar, who was right behind the lizard, asked. Charmeleon rolled his eyes before he ran towards Braixen, a Dragon Claw at the ready.

The fox in question heard the lizard running towards her. She stopped in her tracks before she threw a Psychic at him, knocking Charmeleon towards the side. Barely able to catch the edge, Charmeleon hung off of the cloud.

"Great, just what I needed," Charmeleon grumbled as he tried to pull himself up.

"Sorry, but you cannot duel with a Pokemon who knows Psychic, such as myself.," Braixen told Charmeleon. As the fox readied a Psybeam to eliminate Charmeleon, she was hit by a Shadow Ball, the move knocking her off.

"Braixen is out!"

Magmar, surprised by the sudden appearance of the move, looked behind her. Lampent lazily continued to float past the Magmar as Ninetales, who was on the next platform, turned around.

"Darumaka is out!"

"So it leaves just us and Larvesta," Ninetales calmly said as she got into a battle position. "I'm the last one on my team and there's no way I can outrun someone like Lampent, who can just float. I have to make my last stand here."

"You done talking to yourself?" Charmeleon, who pulled himself up, asked.

Ninetales frowned at the group before her eyes glowed blue. Charmeleon yelped as he was suddenly thrown off of the platform.

"Charmeleon is out!"

Ninetales smirked at the Pokemon on the cloud below her, "I know Psychic as well. There's no way you can get past me."

"Well, what if I don't have to get past you?" A voice behind Ninetales asked. Before the fox could react, a String Shot wrapped around her waist before she was thrown off of the edge by the string.

"Some say that String Shot sucks. I, however, find it very useful," Larvesta said as he flashed his signature, dazzling smile.

"Ninetales is out, the Blazikens win!"

 **-000-**

 **Larvesta smiled at the camera, "I heard that Braixen was out so I had to go back and take care of things. An easy win, of course."**

 **-000-**

 **Ninetales sighed as she looked at the book in her tail, "It seems as if I'm not strong enough… I will read this book and try it out when I can. I need to be stronger so I can win this game!"**

 **-000-**

After the announcement, everyone found themselves in a type of amusement park. Lopunny smiled at the contestants as they looked around.

"Same with last challenge, you may enjoy the park here," Lopunny told them. "It's known for its paragliding and bungee jumping, so make sure to have fun! In a few hours, the Flareons will have to vote off their person for the night. Bye bye for now!" With that, the rabbit disappeared, leaving the contestants to do what they want.

 **-000-**

Lopunny smiled at the contestants who were seated at the benches around the clearing, Altaria and Typhlosion right next to her. Typhlosion held a platter of marshmallows so Lopunny could take them when needed.

"I have received all of your votes and it was a close one," Lopunny told them. "As I'm sure you all know, the one who received the most votes will be eliminated from this competition and will ride the Limo of Losers to a hotel for eliminated contestants."

"The first three safe are Ninetales, Braixen, and Torkoal." Lopunny grabbed three of the marshmallows off of the plate before she threw them at the contestants.

"Not a surprise," Ninetales said as she caught the marshmallow in one of her tails.

"I am honored that you all decided to keep me around for another challenge," Braixen told her team as she easily caught the treat.

"Thank you, my teammates, for allowing me to stay." The marshmallow went over Torkoal's head, who just laughed in response.

"The next two who have not received any votes are Growlithe and Ponyta."

"Sweet," Ponyta calmly stated as she caught the marshmallow in her mouth, a smile on her face.

"Yay!" Growlithe exclaimed as the marshmallow went over his head. "I got it!" With that, the pup ran off to go get his marshmallow.

"Salandit, Slugma, Emboar, you all received at least one vote," Lopunny told them as she picked up the last two marshmallows. She threw one at Salandit, "You received only one vote, so you are safe."

Salandit blinked at Lopunny before he caught his marshmallow, "That's a surprise."

"The last one safe is…

...Slugma." Lopunny threw the last marshmallow at Slugma, just to be burned by her body.

"Well, I expected that," Emboar said as he got up from his seat, "It was fun while it lasted! Thank you guys for allowing me to participate! Good luck to the rest of you."

Emboar made his way towards the limo as his team watched him leave. Lopunny clapped her hands, grabbing everyone's attention, "Alright everyone, you should get some rest! Your next challenge will be in a few days so make sure you're ready!"

The Flareons looked at each other before they slowly left the area, leaving the two hosts and intern alone.

"That challenge was boring," Altaria commented with a deadpan expression. "The next one needs to be better."

"Yeah, but we didn't have much for the flying type that hasn't been done a lot," Lopunny replied. Altaria shrugged before she flew away.

"Well, there you have it! Emboar was the second one to leave!" Lopunny exclaimed as she faced the camera. "Make sure to look out for the next episode of Total… Pokemon… Blazing Inferno!"

 **-000-**

 **Braixen glanced at the camera, an unsure look on her face, "I don't know who to vote for… Maybe Emboar, I feel bad for Slugma and I want her to have a chance."**

 **-000-**

 **Emboar smiled at the camera, "Salandit needs to see a professional so he can beat his depression. This is for his own good!"**

 **-000-**

 **Growlithe chuckled to himself, "That was a fun challenge! But I think Slugma should return home! If you're sick, you should stay at home."**

 **-000-**

 **Ninetales stared at the camera, "Slugma will end up dragging us down, so my vote goes to her."**

 **-000-**

 **Ponyta yawned, "That challenge was tiring. But I guess my vote will go to Emboar. No offense to him but it doesn't seem like he can do much."**

 **-000-**

 **Salandit shrugged his shoulders, "Emboar. His weight will slow us down, but I know I'm going to be voted out."**

 **-000-**

 **Slugma stared at the slips of paper in front of her before she sighed, "There's no way I can vote without burning the paper... So I guess I don't vote." She then sneezed in which small embers flew from her mouth, burning the paper in front of her.**

 **-000-**

 **Torkoal stretched in the confessional before he looked at the camera, "Emboar will not have a use in future challenges. He's slow, he does not seem to be that smart, and he doesn't like to eat. He'll be useless while Slugma has yet to show what she can do."**

 **-000-**

 **Flamig Flareons:** Ponyta, Braixen, Ninetales, Slugma, Salandit, Torkoal, Growlithe

 **Blazing Blazikens:** Torchic, Magmar, Charmeleon, Darumaka, Lampent, Larvesta, Numel

 **-000-**

16th- Litleo, aka Lilith (The Seven Sins)

15th- Emboar, aka Patrick (The Earthshaking Fatass)

 **-000-**

 **Eh, that challenge was pretty boring. And very short, which means a very short challenge. Yet, there was a lot of plots starting in this chapter, in one way or another.**

 **Anyways, Emboar. He was going to be a plot starter by offering good advice and just being there to cheer others up. However, Torkoal and Growlithe take both of those roles away from him, leaving Emboar as the fodder character. If the characters were different, Emboar would have most likely stayed but he just didn't have a use here.**

 **A possible story with Emboar would include helping someone through something tough or even relationships. But again, there are other characters that take this away from him and they just fit better with the others. So goodbye Emboar, or Patrick, we will see you soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**What is up people, your favorite Nobody is back with another chapter. In the last chapter, the contestants raced through the clouds with multiple checkpoints along the way, allowing different functions to be added to the race. In the end, Larvesta came out of nowhere and knocked out the last of the Flareons and Emboar, AKA Patrick, was sent to the Hotel of Losers! What happens next? Nobody knows!**

 **-000-**

"Everyone ready for you next challenge?" Lopunny asked the group in front of her with a giggle. It was after breakfast when Altaria called the contestants to the clearing, as they decided to do this challenge a bit earlier than the others. Well, not them, but rather the producers of this show.

"Yeah yeah, let's just hurry up already," Numel grumbled from his spot next to Charmeleon. Altaria shot him a creepy smile, in which he grew pale in response, moving closer to the lizard next to him.

"I'll take that as a yes!" Lopunny exclaimed before she hopped into the simulation chamber. "What are you all waiting for? Get it!" The contestants looked at each other before they piled into the device once again.

After Slugma entered the chamber, Altaria closed the door, leaving her and Typhlosion alone. She grinned at the badger, "Listen up soldier! This will be your last training exercise so you better pay attention! Or else all of those inside that machine will die, do you understand me?"

"Y-Yes ma'am," Typhlosion replied as he turned towards the controls. The previous challenge taught him the basics, so he was able to easily start up the machine and start the simulation.

 **-000-**

The contestants, after a few seconds, found themselves in front of a very colorful coral reef. The water that the fire types were in was blue and visible, allowing the contestants to see far off into the distance. Behind them was a large, dark hole that seemed to be a huge drop, in which one would not be able to easily climb out of. To the left and right of the contestants was the, what can be gathered, ocean landscape.

Various water type Pokemon swam around the waters as the contestants gathered their bearings. A school of Wishiwashi swam passed the contestants as the contestants watched on in amazement. A Mantine with multiple Remoraid can be seen in the distance, various small Pokemon on its back. Other fish Pokemon can be seen swimming in groups as the group turned towards Lopunny, who was admiring the view around her.

"Welcome to the Miracle Coral Reef!" Lopunny exclaimed as she turned around, giving the group a smile. "A beautiful sight that everyone should enjoy once in their life! Even though this isn't real."

"Wait... We're underwater?" Charmeleon asked with a yelp as he quickly gathered up his tail in his arms.

"You do realize that Pokemon of your species won't die when your tail is submerged in water, right?" Ninetales asked as she turned towards the lizard.

"And your tail is in no danger while we are in the simulation chamber," Magmar added on before she pointed at Ninetales' book, which now had a brown book cover compared to its usual white color. "Her book is fine and Ponyta's fires are fine. You will be fine as well."

Charmeleon cleared his throat before he released his tail, "I-I know. It's a reasonable fear, I was caught off guard for a second."

"Don't worry dude, no need to be afraid," Ponyta stated as she looked around. "Lopunny has proven that she does not want any harm to come to us."

"What can I say, I don't like seeing others in pain," Lopunny said. "If I could, I would take away all of the pain in the world so everyone can be happy!"

"Sorry ma'am, but that's-" Braixen started before she was cut off by Lopunny.

"I should explain the challenge now so you can all have enough time!" The normal type exclaimed. "You all will receive cameras and you must find the most beautiful and stunning sights you can find! Each person will have the chance to take two pictures, so make sure you are confident in your choices! However, at the end, you can only send in one picture. The person who has the best picture will win the challenge for their team!

"I know that there are people here that cannot operate a camera, so you will receive special cameras," Lopunny continued as one appeared in her hands. The camera was attached to a strap that was around her neck, "The camera will hang around your neck and will respond to voice commands."

"Yay! I won't be entirely useless," Slugma exclaimed before she sneezed.

"You guys will have until all pictures are taken or when night falls, whichever comes first," Lopunny explained. "One more thing before we start this challenge, the dark hole behind me, I advise you to avoid it at all costs. I have heard that dangerous Pokemon lurk down there, and it was created by Altaria so I can only imagine what's down there."

"That sounds super scary…" Growlithe whimpered from behind Braixen, who let out a soft giggle.

"Now you have all day for the rest of the challenge! Good luck and enjoy all of the views that the Miracle Coral Reef can offer!" Lopunny exclaimed before she vanished like usual. After she vanished, cameras appeared in the hands or around the necks of contestants.

"This place is beautiful," Salandit commented as he looked up before he paled. "Massive Wailord incoming! Run!" With that, the lizard scurried off in one direction. The rest of the contestants looked up before their eyes widened as a Wailord was quickly reaching their area… And it was going to smash into them.

"Scatter!" Charmeleon yelled before he ran off too. The remaining contestants ran off in random directions, including the slow moving Pokemon like Torkoal. After a bit, the area was clear before the Wailord swam past, hitting the ground a bit as it did so. After the Wailord swam off, all of the contestants disappeared from the area.

 **-000-**

After a few minutes of running, Charmeleon found himself surrounded by large walls of coral on each side of him. The path he was walking reminded him of a dark alleyway found within one of the big cities found throughout the world. But more breathtaking. Various colors surrounded the lizard Pokemon as some fish Pokemon lazily swam through the coral reef. Chameleon, for once during his time on the show, felt at peace. Until he heard heavy footsteps behind him.

Charmeleon groaned as he turned around, spotting Numel running towards him, breathing heavily. After the camel caught up to the reptile, he collapsed, gasping for breath. Charmeleon rolled his eyes, "We didn't run that far you know." Charmeleon folded his arms as he waited for the camel to catch his breath.

After a bit, Numel finally stood back up and shook his head. "I am really out of shape," Numel muttered as he stretched.

"Obviously," Charmeleon replied as he rolled his eyes once again. "I guess I'm stuck with you now so let's just start walking."

The two fire types started to walk down the path through the coral, occasionally looking around to check out the view. While it was beautiful, the two were not in a prime spot to take a picture, they wanted something that was even better. However, the silence continued to grow until Numel couldn't stand it.

"This silence is annoying!" Numel exclaimed after a bit. "Let's talk about anything! Anything at all!"

"You do have a point, this path is very long and the lack of communication is making the challenge drag a bit," Charmeleon replied. "Do you have any topic choice in mind?"

"I don't really care as long as we talk about something!" Numel answered with a growl. He was rather irritated at this point, but at least they were conversing, which is calming him down slightly.

"There is that one thing that's been bothering me," Charmeleon said as he held his chin in thought. "Back when you discovered my sexuality, your attitude towards me suddenly changed. It's confusing me and I would like to know the reason for the shift of personality when around me." Ever since that day, Charmeleon grew very confused about the camel. Multiple questions came up whenever the lizard thought about it but he couldn't come up with an answer.

Numel stopped walking and Charmeleon turned around to face the ground type. Numel sighed before he answered, "Well, it's a very long story." He resumed walking after saying that, and Charmeleon, curious, resumed walking as well. Charmeleon looked around and noticed that the waters grew still, but his interest was in Numel's story.

Numel cleared his throat before he continued, "Let's start from where I'm from. I was born into an Italian family that fled from Italy, I don't know the exact reason why, and they moved to Hoenn. My father is a mafia leader with many names, and he had two hiers, me and my older brother. My brother was the perfect person for the job, even better than my father. He was very kind and charismatic but he can be very forceful and violent when needed.

"Well, one day, a member of the mafia found out that my brother had been sleeping with guys, which is forbidden in the family. My brother faced the family and admitted that he was gay. My father was furious, he's very old fashioned. My brother, my idol, was thrown out of the family and was forgotten about by everyone. Well, everyone besides me.

"A few days after, it was declared that I am to be the next leader of the mafia, but I was disgusted by them. They threw out the perfect person, the kindest person I've ever met, and they didn't care. I finally came up with a plan, and I'm going to change my family. They will be accepting of everyone, not just gays, but all minorities. So, the reason why my attitude towards you changed is because you're a minority. The same goes for the Slugma, but I haven't interacted with her yet."

Charmeleon stared at Numel as the story was told, and continued to stare after the camel finished talking. Suddenly, he started laughing, before he said, "What a story! I'm impressed, but you mention Slugma and how you would treat her similar to me, right?"

Numel rose a brow in confusion, "Yes. What about it?"

"You treated Emboar horribly, even though he also had a medical condition. It wasn't something he was in control of, and you are also larger than your species." Charmeleon answer. "That makes you a hypocrite."

Numel blinked at this. Charmeleon was right, he treated someone that was like a minority terribly! He sighed, "Damn… You're right. I guess I have to work on that…"

Charmeleon chuckled at this as he patted Numel's head, "Dude, no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes and they can choose to correct them or ignore them. You just need to work on it."

Numel smiled at the lizard before a thought came to him, "What about you? I treated Emboar horribly in the past yet you're pretty bad to the others as well. Any reason for that?"

"I'm just not a people person, I suppose," Charmeleon replied with a shrug. "I've always had problems socially, I just can't help it."

Numel stopped walking once again, making Charmeleon stop as well. Numel held up a leg, "Well, how about this? You and I can work on trying to become better people and we can help each other out. Deal?"

Charmeleon stared at Numel once again for a moment before he chuckled. He shrugged his shoulders before he added on, "Only on one condition. You're the only person to actually treat me nice despite me being horrible to others. It's a deal if we can become friends officially."

"I thought that was a given," Numel replied. The two smiled at each other before Charmeleon shook Numel's leg, signalling the deal was on.

After Charmeleon let go, he turned forward once again and discovered that they reached the end of the path with a wide, open space in front of them. He chuckled again as he looked towards Numel, "I do have more questions but I think that's enough for now. We accomplished our goal and now it's time to continue on with the challenge."

"I agree," Numel said as he walked out to the open space. After a few steps, the two found the reason why the waters were so still earlier… There was a gathering of fish Pokemon! And in the middle of the group of fish Pokemon was a Gorebyss holding an egg that was close to hatching.

"I got this," Charmeleon declared as he picked up the camera that was around his neck. He took aim of the shot and took the picture just as a white light enveloped the egg. Seconds later, Numel ordered his camera to take picture of the new baby Pokemon, a Clamperl.

The two fire types grinned at each other before they took off from the area. It's been a great day for the two so far.

 **-000-**

 **Charmeleon smiled at the camera for once, "That was actually pretty beautiful. A new baby Pokemon entering the world, even if it's a simulation. Perfect picture opportunity."**

 **He shifted a little in the confessional, "And I actually made a friend today. Even though I don't exactly like others… It felt pretty nice to actually gain a friend. And Numel is a pretty cool guy, despite his obvious flaws. I don't know, it just made me happy."**

 **-000-**

 **Numel cleared his throat before looking away from the camera, "So everyone knows about why I treat certain Pokemon differently. That's great, I guess. And I can tell I made Charmeleon feel happy, which, in turn, made me feel happy. Maybe the deal we have going is going to turn out for the best."**

 **He then looked at the camera with a grin, "And what I just witnessed made everything even better! Baby Pokemon are so cute!" Numel stopped himself before he glared at the camera, "Cut out that clip! Now!"**

 **-000-**

After the Wailord split up the group of contestants, Braixen and Ninetails ran off in the opposite direction of Charmeleon and Numel. The two ended up in a cave that had light coming from the walls. The inside of the cave was astonishing, various crystal-like minerals protruded from the rocks and walls of the cave. The light that shone through the crystals created colorful lights that appeared on the walls. Moss was growing at the bottom of the walls of the cave, each a different, bright color that added to the beauty of the cave. The girls stood in shock before they heard panting behind them. The two looked behind them to find Slugma, who was out of breath.

Ninetales gave the slug a smile as Slugma controlled her breathing, "Hello Slugma. How are you?"

"T-Tired… And a little bit sick," Slugma replied as she returned Ninetales' smile. Slugma looked towards the two girls and gasped in shock. The fire slug rarely left her home in the past so seeing something this stunning was an amazing experience for Slugma. "This is so pretty…"

"I agree, this is a sight fit for a queen," Braixen commented from her place beside Ninetales. She turned to look towards Slugma, "I believe you should take a picture of this. Your lack of hands will prove difficult to catch moving scenes."

"Great point!" Slugma replied. She used the voice control of the camera to capture the scene in front of her.

"Let's continue onward," Ninetales told the other two girls. Her teammates nodded in response and the three continued down the cave. As they continued on, the lights grew brighter and the colors grew more vibrant. Eventually, the three reached the end of the cave where they saw Chinchou lazily swimming throughout the cave as a Relicanth slept in the middle of the open space they had reached.

"Amazing…" Ninetales breathed out as she held up her camera and focused the shot. However, Slugma, unable to control herself sneezed. The sneeze startled all of the fish Pokemon and sent them swimming away. Braixen and Ninetales sighed before they turned towards Slugma.

"I'm sorry ma'am," Braixen started, "but I think it would be best for you to travel alone instead of being in a group. Until your sneezing calms down." Slugma's eyes widened slightly at this but she nodded anyways before she turned around.

"I am very sorry Slugma, we just need to win this challenge," Ninetales explained. "No hard feelings?"

"None at all…" Slugma replied with a sigh before she slowly made her way back to the entrance of the cave.

After Slugma had left, the two girls looked at each other. Ninetales started walking to an opening of the wall afterwards and noticed more Pokemon on the other side. She turned towards he friend before she called her over, "Braixen! It seems as if there is more to explore of the cave. Shall we continue?"

"Of course!" Braixen replied as she nodded her head. "Lead on, ma'am." Ninetales nodded her head as well before she slid into the crack of the wall, making sure to keep her book with her.

 **-000-**

 **Ninetales frowned slightly as she looked at the camera, "It is rather unfortunate that Slugma tends to screw up in challenges due to her illness, but you can't help it. She's most likely gone if we lose this challenge."**

 **Ninetales shrugged her shoulders before she continued, "It's just how the game is played. Get rid of those that won't help out your team. Slugma, like Emboar, falls under that category, and as a result, she'll be eliminated."**

 **-000-**

 **Slugma stared at the floor of the confessional before she sighed, "I understand why they had me leave. I mean, I would even ask someone like myself to leave as well… But it still hurts a bit…"**

 **She shook her head before she looked at the camera, "I hate being sick… Make sure you viewers take care of yourselves! You don't want to be like me..."**

 **-000-**

Slugma looked down as she aimlessly crawled through the coral reef. She lost the cave awhile ago and had no idea where she was going. She felt the currents pick up a bit and it felt like wind, must be part of the simulation.

Slugma sighed before she started humming to herself. Whenever Slugma felt sad, she would hum or sing to herself. She didn't exactly care about the tone or the words, she would just sing her heart out. And right now, she felt like singing again.

Slugma continued to hum to herself as Luvdisc passed by her, giggling to themselves at the pathetic fire type next to continued moving, passing by bright colors from both plants and Pokemon. Eventually, she started to sing, " _Sick girl, no arms. Just a pathetic excuse of a Pokemon. If only…"_

Slugma sighed once again as the current picked up once again, pushing the fire type a little but she didn't notice. The feeling of being useless and sick really got to her and she didn't notice much around her. Slugma hummed a few more notes before she continued, " _I wonder of a life, where I can be healthy! I wonder of a life, where I can be free of my illness… If only I was someone different…"_

The current continued to grow stronger, picking up the Slugma as she continued on with her song, " _I dream about all that I can do, but reality hits me soon after… Too many things keeping me back, I can never live up to my potential. I'm stuck in this pathetic Pokemon body…"_

Slugma decided to end her song there, it didn't matter if it sounded right or not, it was how she felt. She finally noticed that she was basically flying through the air and started to scream as she made it to the area they spawned at.

Lampent, who was nearby, heard the screams and turned towards the source. He saw Slugma flying through the air with fish Pokemon like Luvdisc and Finneon swimming around her, singing happily. Lampent, who was still expressionless, simply held up his camera and took a picture of the scene before him.

Slugma continued to fly through the air-like water, and Lampent, who was curious, decided to follow her. The fish surrounding Slugma eventually dispersed as she reached the sight of where they first came to this reef. Slugma softly landed on the ground and stopped screaming after finding out where she was. She let out a sigh of relief.

Lampent reached the area but hid behind some coral. Slugma was on the other team so there was a chance that he can sabotage her.

Slugma looked around and noticed the black hole that Lopunny warned the cast about. It seemed so empty… So still…

"I wonder what's down there," Slugma muttered to herself as she approached the black mass in the ground. There was something mysterious about the dark depths and it was calling to her.

Lampent watched Slugma approach the edge and gain an idea. In previous challenges, when a contestant is out of the challenge or in danger, they would be teleported to a place outside of the challenge area. Any penalty to the enemy team, no matter how small it was, is an advantage to his team. It must be done.

As Slugma continued to stare into the dark abyss, Lampent stealthy floated through the bright coral bushes surrounding the area. He needed the perfect shot… There!

Lampent was on the other side of the black hole, across from Slugma, and he started to charge up a Shadow Ball. Slugma, who was looking down into the hole, did not see the charged up attack before and after Lampent fired it in her direction. She only noticed the Shadow Ball a few seconds before it exploded the ground she was standing on.

Slugma, unable to move fast enough, started to fall into the black abyss, screaming once again as she faded from view.

Lampent floated away from the area before he turned back around to mutter, "Goodbye." With that, Lampent went off to find a new area to take his last picture.

 **-000-**

Darumaka walked through an open space outside of the coral reef, hands behind his back, as Magmar and Torchic walked right behind him. The two girls were feeling uneasy as Darumaka was humming an eerie tune while twitching every now and then randomly.

Magmar slowed down a bit as to make sure Darumaka was not in hearing range, which Torchic noticed and followed suit. Magmar bent down slightly and whispered to Torchic, "Have you noticed a change in Darumaka's personality throughout our time on this show? He was calm but now he seems…"

"Crazy?" Torchic finished for Magmar, in which Magmar nodded in return. Torchic sighed, "He was a pretty chill guy, was pretty fun to be around. But now…"

"Do you think we should leave him alone while we continue on with the current challenge?" Magmar asked.

"We need to keep an eye on him," Torchic replied as a determined expression settled onto her face. "To be able to make sure we win this challenge, we must make sure Darumaka does not screw up! We will win!"

As Torchic shouted out the last sentence, Darumaka slowly turned towards the two girls with a wide smile on his face which made both of them shudder slightly. He chuckled softly before he spoke, "H-Have you two ladies come up with a plan already? We have been walking for so-some time now and we haven't ta-taken any pictures yet."

"U-Uh…" Torchic stuttered out as she started to shake in fright.

Magmar, who felt sorry for the little chick, looked around and spotted a forest of long seaweed nearby in which different fish Pokemon lurked in. She smiled to herself before turning towards Darumaka, "Torchic and I had decided to travel to the seaweed forest over there to the east. We might be able to gain more points if we take pictures of a different environment."

Darumaka nodded his head in understanding as his left arm twitched slightly. "Let's get g-going then. We have until sundown!" With that, Darumaka started to head towards the seaweed forest nearby.

Magmar sighed before she picked up Torchic and started to follow the other fire type. Because of Darumaka's recent behavior, Magmar needed to figure out the sudden shift in personality.

As the two continued to walk towards the forest in the ocean, Magmar decided to pop the question. She shifted Torchic to her other arm before she asked Darumaka, "Darumaka, I have noticed a change in your behavior that seems very sudden. Is there any particular reason as to why?"

"Me-medicie," Darumaka replied simply. "My medicine has disappeared from m-my luggage when we had arrived. I didn't w-want to trouble anyone with it so I remained quiet."

"That does not sound like a good enough reason to me," Magmar stated as she looked at Darumaka. "If you need medicine, I do not see being a bother to other people an accurate reason as to not find a way to retrieve it. Now, what was the real reason as to why you decided to ignore your medication?"

Darumaka shrugged in response, "I don't know."

Magmar glared at the male fire type next to her as they near the seaweed forest, "You know the reason so tell me already."

Darumaka smiled at Magmar before he responded sarcastically, "You sound very angry, you need to tone it down some!" He chuckled to himself before his right arm twitched. "But I guess I wanted to feel free. For as long as I remember, I've been on this medication tha-that slowed me down too much. I don't even know what-what I have but I'm st-still given this medication. I wanted to feel like myself for once."

Magmar's expression shifted to one of sympathy as Torchic climbed out of her arms, also feeling sympathetic. "I believe that the you you are talking about is the one on that medicine. If you've been on it for as long as you can remember, then that is your real self."

Darumaka looked down in thought, twitching here and there, before they three reached the forest. He sighed, "I guess you're ri-right... "

"Good," Magmar said with a smile. "Tomorrow, you should asks the hosts for some help. They will be busy setting up and attending the elimination ceremony, so doing it tomorrow will guarantee a faster result."

"Y-You're right," Darumaka replied with a wide smile before he chuckled creepily. "Let's go take some pictures now! There's plenty of Pokemon here!"

 **-000-**

 **Magmar sighed before she looked at the camera, "I dislike when people are not honest. It makes everything complicated and it's not right, it's wrong!"**

 **She then smiled before continuing, "I am glad to have received the truth from Darumaka though. It works out in the end and we'll get him the help he needs."**

 **-000-**

Ponyta followed Growlithe and Salandit through the coral reef they were in. She had taken a picture already of some diamonds she found with Finneon surrounding it. It was very beautiful. After she took the picture, she met up with the two guys and decided to walk with them.

While walking behind the two, Ponyta noticed how happier both of them have been lately. Growlithe, despite his age, acts like a shy child, or at least, what Ponyta had seen so far. Sometimes he would be happier like he's been since the challenge, but for the most part, he's been shy. Ponyta had no idea why he was so happy during the challenge so she'll have to ask later.

Salandit has been the most notable change. Ever since his victories in the past two challenges, Ponyta noticed a huge self-esteem boost in the lizard. While he's depressed at times still, it's a step up from when he first arrived on the show, which made Ponyta happy.

And there was Ponyta. At this point, others, like Numel, were sure to have noticed her inconsistent personality. If she were to be honest with herself… She's not happy like the two in front of her. Before Ponyta arrived at the airport, she was insecure about her personality. As a result, she decided to great a new one, but so far, she hasn't been successful with the new personality. She used to be so…

Ponyta stopped walking, which Growlithe and Salandit didn't notice due to her engrossed in the conversation they were in. Ponyta couldn't figure out what her original personality was! It freaked her out a little but she decided to ignore the feeling. It'll come to her when she's not thinking about it, that's how it goes usually.

Ponyta shook her head before she ran up to the two guys. She cleared her throat before she looked towards Growlithe. "So… Growlithe. This is the happiest I've seen you so far," Ponyta told him, making Growlithe look towards her. "Why's that?"

"Oh! Easy!" Growlithe replied with a smile. "My parents were both water types and they would take me and my brother to ponds and lakes. I just enjoy being in water because it reminds me of good times with my family!"

"That's cool," Salandit remarked with a smirk before he looked down. "I don't have any fond memories of my family…"

"Aw, why's that?" Growlithe asked as the trio arrived at a field surrounded by multiple ores protruding from the ground.

"They wanted a girl, but I was born a guy," Salandit said simply. "I turned out to be a straight male to be precise. And everyone in my village didn't enjoy that either so I was an outcast in my family and village. Doesn't help that my parents are having a hard time in getting pregnant."

"Damn, that sucks dude…" Ponyta said before wincing internally. Salandit just shrugged his shoulders.

"They don't matter," Salandit replied as Growlithe turned towards Ponyta.

"What about your family?"

"Well, my fa-" Ponyta was caught off by a Hyper Beam that hit the ground in front of the trio, causing all three of the fire types to jump back in surprise. The Hyper Beam through up the sand on the ground, making it so no one can see in front of them.

"W-What was that?" Growlithe exclaimed, terrified by the random powerful attack. The sand settled back down on the ground, revealing a Mega Sharpedo looming over the fire types. Growlithe let out a little squeak as Ponyta let out a whoop.

"Oh yeah! Let's do this!" Ponyta exclaimed as she got into a battle stance. Growlithe stood in his place, shaking as Salandit sighed.

"We're dead…" Salandit muttered in defeat. The Sharpdeo readied another attack as Ponyta ran towards the Brutal Pokemon with a Flame Wheel.

Before Ponyta could reach the shark, the Mega Sharpedo fired a Scald at the horse, knocking her into a boulder right beside Salandit. She groaned from the pain.

"Salandit… Maybe a little help?" Ponyta asked as she climbed down from the large boulder she was on. Salandit sighed in response.

"It's a water type Pokemon that's a mega… You really believe we have any chance here?" Salandit asked with a deadpan expression. Before Ponyta could respond, the fire types and Mega Sharpedo heard a loud war cry above them. Curious, all but Growlithe looked up and saw Larvesta on the back of a Mantine.

"Stop, evil-doer! You must leave the innocent alone!" Larvesta exclaimed, his voice booming across the coral reef. He let out a cry before he jumped off the back of the Mantine, landing right in front of his fellow fire types.

"Will you join me in defeating this powerful villain?" Larvesta asked the other three as he took on a battle stance.

"Fine…" Salandit replied with a sigh. "But I am confused as to why you are helping us. We are on different teams."

"When it comes down to it, we're all on the same team when it comes to good and evil!" Larvesta replied. "Now, my allies, let's defeat this foe and make sure no one falls to him in the future!" With that, Larvesta jumped forward as the Mega Sharpedo readied a Hyper Beam.

 **-000-**

Charmeleon sighed as he and Numel were on another long path through the coral reef, the sides of the path towering high above the two. Numel had both of his pictures taken so they were just looking for one more sight for Charmeleon to capture.

"This is a boring challenge…" Numel muttered as they continued on the path. "How much longer do we have until we reach the time limit?"

"No idea," Charmeleon replied as he looked above. "The sun does not have a consistent movement so it would be hard to pinpoint to exact time. Therefore, I cannot determine the amount of time left exactly."

"So… You can't figure it out?" Numel asked, confused.

"Yes. But… The sun seems like it will set soon," Charmeleon said before he turned his attention back to the path. "Look, it looks like there's another opening up ahead."

"Let's hurry up then," Numel said before he started to speed up. Charmeleon rolled his eyes before he too sped up. After a few moments, the two friends reached the end of the path and found themselves in front of a cave.

"I wonder what's in here…" Charmeleon said to himself as he entered the cave. A few steps in, he found Torkoal lining up a picture of the inside. The cave was filled with different colored mosses as well as minerals that were producing light. It was a marvelous sight!

"And… Perfect!" Torkoal exclaimed after he shot the picture before he started to laugh his old man laugh.

"Oh, hey Torkoal," Charmeleon greeted as Numel entered the cave. "How's the challenge going for you so far?"

"Perfect, my friend," Torkoal answered with a smile. "I have taken both of my beautiful pictures. A great challenge as it makes us all appreciate the world around us."

"Charmeleon, you should try to find an entrance to the rest of the cave," Numel told the lizard. "Maybe there's more to this cave."

"Only one way to find out," Charmeleon said with a shrug. He found the entrance to the next area and walked through it, Numel and Torkoal following him.

Eventually, the three fire types reached another room within the cave. Within this cave, more minerals lined the walls, each reflecting the light off of the glowing moss within the room. Rainbow colors lined the walls within the room as a glowing rock stood in the center of the room. Charmeleon shrugged his shoulders before he snapped the picture, signalling that he was finally done with the challenge. After he took the picture, he heard fighting from further within the cave.

"Hey guys!" Charmeleon called to the other two. "There seems to be fighting further in. Do you want to check it out since we're all done with the challenge?"

"Sure, why not," Numel replied as he and Torkoal reached Charmeleon. The three continued through the cave, hoping to reach the fighting soon.

 **-000-**

Ninetales and Braixen had finished taking their pictures within the surprisingly long cave and had decided to explore the rest of it. That, however, was a mistake.

The two foxes found themselves facing a lot of water type enemies and they were tiring fast. Their final opponent was a Barbaracle, a very strong one at that.

When the girls first arrived, Ninetales had started off with a strong offensive. That lasted only for a few moments until she was on the defensive with Braixen. The Barbaracle used Rock Polish after the two girls were on the defensive, greatly increasing its speed.

Ninetales picked up the large Pokemon with Psychic but didn't have the power to hold it for long. With a grunt, the move failed and the Barbaracle was free once again, ready to attack. It stomped the ground and unleashed a Stone Edge towards the two girls, which they both barely dodged in time.

"We can't defeat it at this rate!" Ninetales exclaimed as she breathed heavily. Braixen nodded in response before she readied a Psybeam. She fired the psychic type attack, which hit the Barbaracle, dealing a bit of damage.

"We need a plan," Braixen muttered as she lifted herself into the air with Psychic. She fired a few more Psybeams as she carried herself across the room they were in.

Ninetales groaned before she looked towards her book. She needed power… And this book gave power…

"Maybe this will work?" Ninetales asked herself as she took the book from her tail. However, she had to jump out of the way of a Stone Edge, dropping the book in the process. Ninetales gasped before growling at the Barbaracle.

Ninetales sped forward with a Dark Pulse at the ready. Using the Stone Edge as a platform, Ninetales jumped off and fired the Dark Pulse at close range, causing a small explosion that blew her back. Ninetales landed heavily on the floor next to Braixen, who seemed a bit injured as well. The Barbaracle, however, was still standing, not phased in the slightest.

"This thing is a monster…" Braixen muttered as she stood back up.

"Braixen, the book. It's our only chance!" Ninetales exclaimed as she pointed at the book on the other side of the room. Braixen passed her a confused glance but used Psychic to bring the book over to the other fox.

"I hope you have something planned that can get us out of this mess," Braixen told Ninetales before turning her attention to the water type. "I'll distract him!" Braixen ran forward with her wand at the ready, a Psybeam already being charged up.

"I hope this works…" Ninetales said to herself before she opened the pages. She flipped through the book quickly until she saw an image of a human with large muscles. Under the picture was a sentence in another language. Ninetales smiled to herself before she started to chant the sentence.

"Hey ugly!" Braixen shouted towards the large Pokemon, trying to keep the attention on herself. She spared a glance towards Ninetales' direction. She noticed that the fox was mouthing something but she did not know what.

After a moment, Ninetales finished the chant. After she finished it, she felt her blood boil as strength flooded throughout her body. She grinned to herself as she began to giggle uncontrollably.

"Yes…. Yes!" Ninetales exclaimed as she started to slowly walk towards the Barbaracle. "I can feel the power! I can defeat you!" With that, Ninetales charged up a Flamethrower and blasted the Barbaracle, creating a small explosion in the process. As the air cleared of the smoke, it was revealed that the water rock-type Pokemon had been defeated.

"I...I did it! Yes!" Ninetales cheered as she giggled uncontrollably again, the giggling turning into maniacal laughter moments later.

"Wow…" Charmeleon mumbled as he, Numel, and Torkoal appeared in the room as the Barbaracle was defeated. They grew a bit creeped out from Ninetales' laughter as Braixen picked up the book.

"Blood magic?" Braixen asked herself before looking at Ninetales.

 **-000-**

"So… Why did you make the Barbaracle lose at that exact moment?" Typhlosion asked Altaria, who was giggling to herself.

"Simple. Ninetales picked up a Blood Magic book and 'used' it," Altaria replied. "I wanted to see everyone's reactions if she got a random power boost! And Braixen's is the best!"

"Sounds like you have it down to a science…" Typhlosion said with a sigh, not exactly interested.

"Of course I do!" Altaria exclaimed as she held up a notebook.

"Where did that even come from…?"

"See, I have everyone's personalities here and possible reactions to different situations!" Altaria continued on, ignoring Typhlosion. "I knew that Braixen's world would be turned upside down if she witnessed magic being used and Ninetales is just thirsty for power, I can tell. The guys were just a bonus."

"I see…" Typhlosion muttered before turning back towards the controls.

 **-000-**

 **Ninetales continued to giggle as she tried to speak, "T-This power. It's addicting! I must do everything in this book! I-I need more power. I need to show that I belong in my clan! This is the way!"**

 **Ninetales started to laugh uncontrollably before she fell onto the floor of the confessional.**

 **-000-**

 **Braixen stared at her hands, a glare set on her face, "Magic? Blood magic? This must all be a trick! Ninetales did not use…"**

 **She breathed in before letting out a huff. She crossed her arms while glaring at the camera, "Magic is not real! I do not believe it!"**

 **-000-**

Slugma groaned as she woke up after falling unconscious from the fall. She opened her eyes and saw absolutely nothing except for complete darkness. But, to her, this is where she belonged.

She couldn't help out her team, so it was just better for her to disappear into darkness. She sighed to herself before she saw a light in the distance.

This light… Yes! She's not meant to disappear. This light proves it… Or she probably hit her head too hard.

"I wonder what that is…" Slugma said to herself as she started to head towards the light. After a few moments, Slugma found herself in an opening full of Chinchou. In the middle of the opening was a Manaphy sitting on top of a large diamond deposit, an egg in its lap.

"Pretty…" Slugma said with sparkling eyes. She activated her camera by whispering and took aim of the shot. Once the camera was in the perfect position, she quickly snapped the photo and the camera magically disappeared.

"And the last picture has been taken!" Lopunny's voice cut across the Miracle Coral Reef.

"Aww, this was so beautiful though…" Slugma muttered before she was teleported away.

 **-000-**

All of the contestants found themselves in the same area in which they spawned at. In front of them stood Lopunny with a stack of photos in her hands and all of the Pokemon the cast encountered.

"Welcome all!" Lopunny greeted. "It's been a few hours since I've seen you all! Anyways, I have all of the photos here and I would be scoring them. However, there was a special area that Altaria added, and if a person took a picture of this area… They win it instantly!"

"I wonder where that area was…" Charmeleon muttered.

"I think we found the place guys!" Torchic exclaimed as she looked towards Magmar and Darumaka.

"And the picture that won the challenge was…" Lopunny held out a picture that grew in size seconds later. It revealed a Manaphy holding an egg, sitting on a large diamond deposit. Various Chinchou, both shiny and regular, floated around the Manaphy's head, making the diamond cast rainbow colors around the otherwise dark area. "Slugma's picture! The Flareons win!"

A cheer arose from the Flareons as Slugma stood there in shock. Her team began to surround her as Slugma slowly smiled, glad to have actually done something for once!

"You all can enjoy the wonders of the Miracle Coral Reef and the few buildings here," Lopunny continued as a few buildings popped out from the ground. "Blazikens, your elimination will be later tonight."

The contestants smiled at each other, save a few, before they split off into groups.

 **-000-**

Later that day, as the guys returned from the simulation, they returned to their trailer. Charmeleon, tired of social interaction, was the first to reach the door and noticed a flash drive with a note that said "from a friend."

"Hey guys, I found something," Charmeleon said as the rest of the guys reached the trailer.

"Oh! What is it? What is it?" Growlithe asked as he bounced in place. Charmeleon shrugged in response before he entered the trailer. There was a computer in the room so it was easy to figure out what was within the flashdrive.

Charmeleon plugged it into the computer and a video popped up instantly, which was strange as that normally does not happen. Charmeleon clicked play and the video started.

The video was simple. It was a sped up video of the guys' trailer, showing them all sleeping. It then showed Darumaka's actions during the morning, which made Growlithe start to shake. The video continued for a few more minutes until Darumaka returned back to bed, like he did that same morning.

"What… Was that?" Numel yelled angrily as he turned towards Darumaka.

"Wait, I-I can explain!" Darumaka exclaimed as his left arm twitched.

"Darumaka has been acting strange for the past few days," Torkoal commented as he rewatched the video. "I wonder if there was a reason for it…"

"Well, it doesn't matter," Charmeleon declared. "I doubt any of us want to wake up to seeing Darumaka staring at us. It's clear who's leaving." A few guys nodded in response as Darumaka gulped.

 **-000-**

"Welcome Blazikens to your second elimination ceremony!" Lopunny exclaimed with a smile as she held up a platter of marshmallows. "I have received the votes already and I have the one who's going to leave tonight."

"The first two that are safe are Torkoal and Charmeleon!" Charmeleon easily caught the marshmallow as Torkoal's flew over his head.

"Torchic and Magmar!" Torchic tried to catch hers but she landed on her face. Magmar caught hers and gave it to Torchic when she stood up.

"And the last two to not get votes are Numel and Larvesta!" Larvesta caught his with String Shot as Nueml's flew over his head as well.

"You have terrible aim…" Numel commented, which Lopunny ignored.

"Lampent, Darumaka, you both have recieved votes," Lopunny continued as she held up the last marshmallow. "With a vote of 5-2, Darumaka… You are the third contestant eliminated from Total Pokemon Blazing Inferno!" Lopunny threw the last Marshmallow towards Lampent, which just fell short of his reach.

"Darumaka, also known as Dan, you must enter the limousine and ride towards the Hotel of Losers," Lopunny said as everyone stood up. Darumaka sighed before he walked towards the limo and got inside it.

"After a long and beautiful challenge, we finally end this fourth episode with Dan leaving us. Be sure to stay tuned to Total… Pokemon… Blazing Inferno!"

"Zombies! Zombies everywhere!" Altria screamed as she flew across the camera's view.

 **-000-**

 **Charmeleon glared at the camera with his arms folded, "I told the team who to vote for… They better listen, we don't need a creep here!"**

 **-000-**

 **Darumaka sighed as he looked down, "I know everyone is going to vote for me… But I'll still vote for Lampent. Something isn't right about that guy."**

 **-000-**

 **Lampent stared at the camera, "Bye creep."**

 **-000-**

 **Larvesta smiled at the camera, "I was told by my leader to vote for Darumaka, and I agree with this decision. In the name of justice, he will be taken care of so poor Growlithe does not have to worry anymore!"**

 **-000-**

 **Magmar glared at the camera, "Lampent is still a menace to the innocents out in the city. He needs to be taken care of as soon as possible."**

 **-000-**

 **Numel let out a short laugh as he smirked at the camera, "It's obvious who I'm voting for."**

 **-000-**

 **Torchic looked conflicted as she spoke, "While I do know about Darumaka's problem, I think it's best for him to leave. Just in case he decides to not take his medication again."**

 **-000-**

Patrick the Emboar sighed as he watched the newest episode of Total Pokemon Blazing Inferno. He liked Darumaka, Dan, and wanted to see him get further. But after the revelation of his medication, Patrick was somewhat glad to see Dan leave.

Speaking of medication, the show's staff contacted Dan's parents and he now has the medication waiting for him once he gets to the hotel. Patrick was also glad about this, since the two would be rooming with each other.

After some time, the door to the room opened and it revealed Dan, who was twitching slightly. Patrick stood up and walked over to Dan to greet him.

"Hey, it's been a few days," Patrick said with a smile as he led Dan to his bed.

"Yeah, ti-time flies when you're playing the game though," Dan replied as he took two of the pills from the bottle. "Do you know where Litleo is?"

"Lilith? Yeah, I see her throughout the day," Patrick replied as a paper slowly floated towards the two. Patrick grabbed it, curious.

"Wh-What's that?" Dan asked as he sat down on his bed.

"No idea," Patrick answered as he sat next to Dan. The Emboar opened the letter and the two read it quickly. After they were finished reading the letter, they just looked at each other.

 **-000-**

16th- Litleo, aka Lilith (The Seven Sins)

15th- Emboar, aka Patrick (The Earthshaking Fatass)

14th- Darumaka, aka Dan (The Tranquill)

 **-000-**

 **I have to say… This has to be my best chapter so far. An easy challenge with lots of character interactions and the such. And we finally get some plot! Plot is fun!**

 **Okay, so Darumaka… Yeah, I screwed up with him. Originally, Darumaka was going to be the calm guy with a clear head who would advance plots. However, there is someone better that can help out with plots, so Darumaka's role was taken from him. And he was just boring overall, so his role being taken away… Yeah, he needed to go. Hopefully I can do better with him outside of the show.**

 **I decided to add at least something to Darumaka so I made it so he needed medication to stay like his tranquill self, which some medications do. Hopefully Dan becomes more notable as a result.**

 **Anyways, I hoped you all enjoyed the chapter! Be sure to leave a review with tips on how I can improve or just random things about the characters you like or dislike. See ya next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**What is up people, your favorite nobody is back with yet another chapter! Surprising that I haven't quit yet… Last chapter, the contestants found themselves in the Miracle Coral Reef, where they had to take pictures of the most stunning sights. After some conflict and lots of socialization, Slugma fell into the dark abyss and took the picture that won her team the challenge. After not taking his medication and a mysterious tape appearing in the guys' trailer, Darumaka got voted out. Who will be the next one gone? Where will the contestants find themselves next? What was with that mysterious letter Patrick and Dan got in the Loser Hotel? Stay tuned!**

 **-000-**

The day after the challenge, the contestants had another relaxing day. That night, the group had dinner at a Kantonian restaurant, which most of the contestants enjoyed greatly. Afterwards, they returned to their trailers.

Within the guys' trailer, everyone was still up and talking with each other. Larvesta and Torkoal were talking about the people they had helped and how. Numel and Charmeleon were on Numel's bed, just messing around. Lampent was nowhere to be found and Salandit decided to remain outside for a bit, only Torkoal knew what he was doing. Growlithe, at this point, was feeling very tired.

"It's getting pretty late," Growlithe said before he yawned, showing how tired he was.

"Not for me, I'm used to staying up this late," Charmeleon replied with a shrug. Ever since the last challenge, Charmeleon seemed to be a bit more mellow, more relaxed.

"Can you read me a bedtime story?" Growlithe asked as he looked over towards Charmeleon. "Please?" He continued as he gave the lizard puppy-dog eyes.

Numel snorted, "Damn kid, how old are you?" He started to laugh before himself before he was shut up by Charmeleon, who smacked the back of the camel's head. Numel glared at the lizard before he turned back towards Growlithe, grumbling.

Growlithe, however, ignored Numel as he jumped up onto his bed. He stared at Charmeleon, "You only need to read one! I promise I'll fall asleep right after!"

Charmeleon let out a sigh before he got up from the bed, "Yeah, sure. I see no real reason not to. Any recommendations?"

"Oh! Oh! How about a story about two gangs?" Numel asked as he slid farther into his bed.

"I thought you were too old for bedtime stories," Charmeleon replied as he rolled his eyes. "You were implying that."

"W-Whatever…" Numel muttered as he looked away. "It could be fun though."

"What do you two say?" Charmeleon asked as he turned towards Larvesta and Torkoal, who stopped their conversation to hear what was going on.

"I say a superhero story!" Larvesta exclaimed with a dazzling smile. "It can assist in getting Growlithe to sleep, they always did when I was a kid."

"I say a folk tale. Back in my day, my papa would tell me stories of the woods nearby," Torkoal chimed in before laughing his old man laugh.

"Torkoal… You're not much older than us…" Charmeleon stated with a sigh, in which Torkoal only laughed at.

"How about the one of the Three Tales?" A voice asked as a familiar poison-type entered the trailer. "I used to enjoy reading about those."

"You actually enjoyed something before?" Numel asked with mock surprise. Salandit rolled his eyes before he walked over towards his bed.

"The Three Tales sounds like a good idea," Charmeleon hummed to himself as he walked over to the computer. He looked up the first of the Three Tales and turned back towards the others. He waited until they were all comfortable and ready to hear the tale. Satisfied, Charmeleon turned back towards the screen before he started to read.

" _A century after the eradication of humans, Pokemon had developed over time and spoke a common language. They took on some customs of the species that had disappeared from the planet, and they were already doing better._

" _There were six major kingdoms on the planet and everyone was at peace. That was, until, an army rose up in a cluster of islands that are now called Alola. This army was led by a ruthless Haxorus and, one-by-one, the kingdoms started to fall. Eventually, only one was left standing, which is now called Kalos._

" _A Chesnaught rose through the ranks of his army during the time of this war. He eventually became a general and was the one to lead the charge against the invading army. And he did. After hours of battle, however, The Chesnaught and his comrades fell to the large army and the last kingdom was taken._

" _Days later, the Chesnaught awoke in a new area, a giant tree in the middle of present-day Hoenn. In this tree, the mighty warrior met Arceus, the God of all Pokemon, as well as Mew. He was given extraordinary strength and a powerful ally, a Watchog archer._

" _Together, the two made their way down to Kalos and challenged the ruthless Haxorus and his army. With the power of the God behind them, the Chesnaught and Watchog overpowered the Haxorus and took what he was seeking… The Rings of Power._

" _The Chesnaught traveled back to the tree and parted ways with his partner before he spoke to Arceus once again. Arceus took the Rings of Power and transformed them into the Jewel of Life, which was further broken down into the eighteen plates, one for each type. This Chesnaught was then named 'Arceus' Champion.'_

" _The Champion made his way back to his home, only to be met with those that feared him and those that were jealous of him. The Champion was attacked and was defeated, as he stayed true to his morals._

" _The townspeople executed their savior with no remorse. The Champion was dead. Arceus, who heard this news from one of the legendary Pokemon grew distressed. She grew fond of the mighty warrior…_

" _Tensions between mortals and legends grew, all because of this event. The first of the Three Tales, born of fear and jealousy, gave way to the second of the Three Tales."_

Charmeleon looked around the trailer and noticed that both Numel and Growlithe were already asleep. Salandit, Larvesta, and Torkoal applauded Charmeleon, who rolled his eyes in response.

"I think we should get to sleep sometime soon," Salandit spoke up after the three stopped clapping. At this point, Lampent wandered into the trailer and immediately flew into his bed, not saying a thing, like usual.

"I agree, we do have a challenge tomorrow," Torkoal added after Lampent went to bed. "We need as much sleep as possible so we can do the best we can. And it's healthy."

"I do have to keep up for some early training tomorrow," Larvesta commented as he hopped into his bed. The guys continued to talk until, one-by-one, they all fell asleep.

 **-000-**

In the Hall of Origins, Entei, the fire type of the legendary beast trio, stomped his way into Arceus' room. For the past two centuries, Arceus had the legendary Pokemon of the world remained in the Hall of Origin when they were not working. Entei was coming back from his routine patrol across the various regions and he had some disturbing news to report.

The door to Arceus' room was open so Entei just walked in, still stomping the entire time. The god was off in the corner of his room, looking into an orb. He looked over towards the fire type who was stomping into the room, giving off a few embers with each step.

"What do you have to report?" Arceus asked, annoyed. Recently, it seemed as if nothing has been found in the patrols Arceus sent his legendaries to do. He knew Type: Null was out there somewhere, but he seems to have evaded all of the patrols so far.

"Yes," Entei growled out as he looked up at Arceus. "I have not found where Type: Null is hiding but I found what he is doing."

"Out with it already!" Arceus bellowed, making the angry legendary flinch.

"He created his own Total Pokemon show," Entei replied with a little less fire to his voice. "Total Pokemon Blazing Inferno. I don't know why he created the show but if we-"

"I do not want to know what a buffoon like you has planned," Arceus growled out, making Entei whimper slightly.

"M-Maybe Genesect can…"

"I do not trust that insignificant insect!" Arceus bellowed out once again. "I only trust you and your siblings because I know you're smart enough to not betray me. Some of your co-workers, however…"

"Y-Yes sir," Entei whimpered out.

"Leave my presence, you have fulfilled your duty of the day," Arceus commanded. Entei simply nodded his head and turned away, scampering out of the room. Arceus groaned after the fire type left. Type: Null… Whatever his plans were, Arceus knew he was going to be a thorn in his side.

 **-000-**

"I don't think I can do it…" Torchic whispered to Magmar, the two sitting at a table at a restaurant in the city. Torchic was looking over towards Larvesta, who was eating a lot of food in a short amount of time.

"I do not see why not," Magmar replied in a slightly louder tone. "You already said you would apologize to him so why not do it now?"

"I hate to admit it but I'm scared," Torchic admitted as she looked down at the table. "He's just amazing and I find it intimidating."

Magmar gave her a soft look as she awkwardly pat Torchic's head. "If you can not do it now, then you can not do it in the future. You need to do it now," Magmar told the small fire-type in front of her.

"I just… Can't!" Torchic exclaimed, causing multiple customers to look at her yet Larvesta was still too busy eating to notice. "I'm weak! I can try to act tough but I'm not. And I can't change that!"

After Torchic's outburst, Magmar grabbed the side of the little chick's head and forced Torchic's eyes to meet hers. She stared at her eyes, making the other Pokemon grow a little uncomfortable, before she spoke, "There is no such thing as can't. You can do what you need to do as long as you put your mind to it. This shall be your first step in growing stronger, go over to him and apologize."

Torchic stared at Magmar's eyes for a few more seconds until she closed hers, letting out a sigh, "You're right. I need to try to get stronger and this is the first step."

Torchic hopped out of her chair and started to walk towards Larvesta before stopping halfway. She looked back towards Magmar who gave her an awkward smile and a thumbs-up. Torchic couldn't help but giggle before she turned back around and continued walking.

"Hey Torchic," Larvesta greeted as she walked up to his table, flashing her his signature dazzling smile. "It's been awhile since we've talked. How've you been?"

"I've been okay," Torchic replied as she took a seat across from him. "A little bummed that we lost last challenge but Darumaka was starting to freak me out."

"He did freak out the guys when Charmeleon found the video," Larvesta said before he slid a plate of food in front of Torchic. "Hungry?"

"No thanks," Torchic answered. "I already ate. But I came over to apologize for yelling at you. You know, before the first challenge."

Larvesta raised an eyebrow at her before he gave her a smile, "I see you finally understand what I was telling you?"

Torchic weakly nodded her head to which Larvesta gave off a chuckle. Torchic gave him a look before she asked, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing important," Larvesta replied with another chuckle. "You didn't need to apologize, I already forgave you after you yelled at me. See, I understand where you were coming from and knew you had to figure out that I was actually helping you. All if forgiven."

"It can't be that easy!" Torchic protested with a confused expression. "There has to be more than that."

Larvesta shrugged before he hopped off of the chair. He gave Torchic another one of his smiles before he spoke, "It is that easy." He put some money in the checkbook on his table. "I'm going to go out and train a little. I'll talk to you some other time."

Torchic stared at the bug as he made his way out of the restaurant before she felt someone pat her head. Instantly, she knew Magmar made her way over to the table she was at.

"Good job," Magmar told her. "I am proud of you, it takes great strength to apologize to another."

"Thanks…" Torchic said, giving off a small smile.

 **-000-**

 **Torchic gave the camera a small smile as she spoke, "That was a lot easier than I thought. Maybe I'm stronger than I thought. This is what I need!"**

 **-000-**

 **Larvesta flashed the camera is dazzling smile, "I'm glad Torchic was able to figure it out. Now she'll continue to grow stronger, hopefully both mentally and physically. I'll try to help her a little but she has to do it herself."**

 **-000-**

Charmeleon stretched as he walked away from a defeated Linoone, satisfied by his victory. Numel and Torkoal were nearby on a picnic blanket, watching the battle in amusement.

"That was faster than last time," Numel told Charmeleon as he reached the blanket. Numel has been watching Charmeleon's battles for awhile now while Torkoal had been invited very recently, so this was the first battle he had watched.

"He didn't have as much endurance as that Machamp last time," Charmeleon replied with a shrug. "But he was faster. If I didn't modify my style in time, I would've been taken out instead."

"I do say, your combination of moves is simply fascinating," Torkoal complimented. "Where did you learn how to do that? I've never seen anything like it in all of my years."

"Torkoal, you're not that much older than us," Charmeleon pointed out.

"Ah, yes, I always forget that," Torkoal replied with a sheepish chuckle.

Charmeleon and Numel shared a laugh, and after the quieted down, Charmeleon decided to answer. He flopped onto his back, staring up into the sky, as he started his tale, "It's simple really. I needed to learn how to fight while I was on the streets. Everyone had a straightforward style, and I shared that style.

"Where I lived, there was a lot of gang activity, we had a lot of gangs. I couldn't stand being home and I needed to get my little sister out of the house so we walked the streets, going on adventures. She really loves going on adventures, you know? So I brought her on any adventure she wanted, and being stuck in a city was not going to stop us." As Charmeleon talked about his little sister, a rare smile found its way on his face.

"Seems like you really love her," Numel said softly, noticing his friend's smile.

"I really do, I love her a lot. I would do anything for her, even joining this stupid show," Charmeleon replied with a dry chuckle. "I know I'm not going to win, always knew that. But I would try to do anything for her and I need to try to win."

"A noble goal," Torkoal commented. "Youngsters like yourself don't usually have such a goal."

"Again, not that much older than us," Charmeleon told Torkoal before he continued. "Anyways, during one of our adventures, there was this particularly terrible gang that was approaching us. Of course, I tried to hide my sister but they grabbed me before I could.

"The only way to get out of the situation was to fight. But I was too weak then, way to weak," Charmeleon spat with a glare set on his face. "But I needed to keep her alive. So I had to rely on my intelligence. After a while, I started to combine moves to make stronger moves and I was able to beat them. I don't remember much of that day after that. I may have won but I didn't leave unscratched."

"That makes so much sense…" Torkoal muttered. "A terrible personality to try to intimidate someone and the constant need for battle it seems. All because of your background. Kids are too hard on each other… But yet you are kind, I can see that in your story and your actions while here. A sad destiny, being forced to be something you aren't, just to be able to get through the next day."

"Yeah, I guess…" Charmeleon muttered dryly.

"The gang sounds weak," Numel said with a scoff. "My family would easily destroy them. And I might make them, picking on the weak is despicable."

"But you insult the weak all of the time," Charmeleon pointed out as he sat up.

"It's good for them," Numel replied as he rolled his eyes. "You do need thick skin nowadays. Everything gets to everyone. And it's not like you're any better."

"That's why we settled on our deal," Charmeleon growled out as he glared at Numel. Numel glared back as he let out his own growl.

"I do say, it looks as if throwing insults is forced for both of you," Torkoal piped up as he watched the exchange. "I can see Charmeleon's reasoning but I have more to learn about you, Numel."

The two growling fire-types ignored Torkoal, who in turn smirked and excused himself from the picnic.

 **-000-**

 **Charmeleon glared at the camera before he looked off towards the side, "Yeah yeah, laugh away. I know you are all. The big bad guy loves his little sister and just had a touching moment. This'll affect my image." However, as he finished speaking, he couldn't help but show a small smile.**

 **-000-**

 **Torkoal let out his old man laugh before he spoke, "Those two are already great friends. I'm glad they started inviting me out, it was growing dull being by myself."**

 **He then smirked at the camera, "And I'm not oblivious to what's going on. I only hope they figure it out sometime soon."**

 **-000-**

Salandit was a ways away from the trailers, working on his garden. These particular flowers and herbs have been growing quickly and they look beautiful while in full bloom. After a while, Salandit leaned back with a content sigh.

"You're all looking beautiful today, ladies," Salandit told the flowers with a confusing accent. He started laughing after a few seconds. Salandit really enjoyed his time caring for his garden at home and this was almost the same thing. It was relaxing to him.

"Hey Salandit…" A groggy voice called out from behind the lizard. Salandit turned his head and saw Slugma slowly making her way towards him. She looked as if she just woke up and she looked sick, but not as bad as usual.

"Good afternoon, Slugma," Salandit greeted as the fire slug reached the lizard. "Rough sleep?"

"Yes," Slugma replied as she nodded her head.

"I know the feeling," Salandit said with a sigh. "Before I came on this show, I had a very hard time sleeping, but when I did fall asleep, it would be for hours on end."

Slugma sneezed before she responded, "I'm just sick all of the time, I can never get good sleep."

"Do you know what you have?" Sanaldit asked as he set down the tool he was holding. The garden could wait.

"Nope, the doctors don't know what's wrong with me," Slugma responded as she looked over the garden. "These are very pretty flowers, Salandit. You did these yourself?"

"Yep, been taking care of gardens for years," Salandit said as he waved his hand. "How long ago did you start feeling sick?"

Slugma hummed to herself for a moment as she thought to herself, "I don't know. All of my life, I've felt sick."

Salandit put a hand on his chin in thought, "Maybe… I can help you. I have plenty of free time so I can do research."

Slugma blinked at this, confused, "Why would you help me? We don't really know each other."

Salandit gave her a small smile as he picked the tool back up, "After the life I loved, I know how important it is to help people."

Slugma returned the smile as she gazed at the flowers once again, admiring their beauty, "Thanks… Now about those flowers…"

 **-000-**

Ninetales giggled to herself as she sat in the corner of the library, the same book in her paws. Ever since her victory against the impossible foe in the last challenge, the fox has only been reading this book. She giggled again as a red bubble rose up from her thin figure.

"That was amazing, Braixen!"

Ninetales gasped to herself as Growlithe and Braixen entered the empty library room. She hid behind a bookshelf before either Pokemon could spot her, she couldn't have anyone see her in action...Yet.

Growlithe led Braixen over towards a table as he continued, "Everyone loved your magic show! I loved your magic show! It was the most awesomest thing I have ever seen, and I've seen lots of awesome things!" The two sat at the table, Growlithe propping up his head with two of his paws, keeping balance somehow.

Braixen chuckled in response, giving the pup a small smile, "Thank you for the compliment, m'lord. But I wouldn't have been able to create such a fantastic show without my adorable assistant. You, Growlithe, made the show happen."

Growlithe gave Braixen a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head bashfully, "Nah. You're just really really really good! I'm glad that we're friends!"

Braixen laughed at that, to which Growlithe beamed at, before she sighed, "I do wish Ninetales saw the show. She's been distant ever since the last challenge."

Growlithe placed a paw on one of Braixen's hands, still smiling at her, "Just give her some time. You two will be back to being besties in no time! With the power of friendship, nothing can keep you two apart!"

Braixen stared at Growlithe's paw for a few seconds before she returned the smile, "Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better. She's probably going through something right now. I'll give her some time."

Growlithe lifted an arm into the air, "Yay! Friendship!" He exclaimed before he jumped out of his seat, his tongue sticking out of his maw slightly. "Do you want to get out of here before everyone leaves the main room? You still have to teach me some of your tricks."

Braixen stood up from her seat, brushing her fur back slightly, "You can choose the next location m'lord. And I'd be honored to teach you my skills."

Growlithe's exclamations of excitement echoed throughout the library as people slowly filled the room. Ninetales watched the two fire-types leave before she left her hiding spot, keeping the book close to her, "Braixen doesn't know a thing about magic… I'll consider showing them a bit of my power later on."

Ninetales quickly left the library, unnoticed, and ran off towards Amity Square.

 **-000-**

 **Braixen sighed as she held her head, "I don't know what's wrong with Ninetales. I hope I didn't do anything wrong…I'll have to just listen to Growlithe. I trust him."**

 **-000-**

 **Growlithe, with his tongue out slightly, was holding a deck of cards. He picked up the top card, looked at it, then placed it back before trying to shuffle the cards. After a few seconds of struggling, the pile of cards exploded, sending the cards everywhere. Growlithe tilted his head to the side before giving the camera a large smile, "I did it! I think…"**

 **-000-**

Ponyta, with her head down, hummed to herself as she walked the streets of Hearthome City. The people on the streets stayed clear of the small horse, clearly picking up on her mood.

After a bit, the fire-type turned down one of the alleys, not really noticing where she was going. She was too wrapped up in her head to care, allowing her legs to take her whenever they want.

She eventually passed by Lampent, who was in the middle of shaking an upside down Simisage with various coins underneath them. Lampent noticed the passing Pokemon before he resumed robbing the poor grass-type.

A few moments later, the ghost-type dropped the monkey with a sigh. The now knocked out Simisage was left behind with the scattered coins as Lampent quickly flew after the horse. It didn't take long for him to find Ponyta, as she was slowly making her way through the city.

Lampent immediately noticed that something was wrong with the usually energetic fire-type...When she's energetic. She's a confusing one. But Lampent could use this to his advantage–he'd been getting bored.

After a few seconds, the ghost-type thought of an idea that he'd done plenty of times in the past. He focused on Ponyta as he silently followed her, even though he doubted she would catch him.

Ponyta, who was still thinking through her identity problem, suddenly grew a bit depressed as new thoughts entered her mind. Different memories flashed through her mind, memories of her acting differently. _Who was she…?_

Slightly scared as these thoughts had never appeared before, Ponyta stopped walking and just stood there, thinking. The thoughts continued to grow more dark and depressing, throwing Ponyta off a bit.

"Hey! You! I have a bone to pick with you!"

Ponyta jumped, slightly startled, as she looked behind her to find a slightly bruised Simisage stalking towards her direction. However, the grass-type was not looking at her, rather, he was looking at a lamp…

Ponyta gasped before she glared at Lampent, "Lampent!" She knew something was off with her thoughts, she wasn't depressed and the issue wasn't that big yet. But Ponyta knew Lampent had something to do with it...Somehow.

Lampent, with an indifferent expression, looked at Ponyta before glancing at the Simisage. He shrugged before he vanished from their sight, in which the SImisage grumbled before stalking off.

Ponyta sighed, while she knew Lampent was messing with her, the horse knew that she had a problem...

 **-000-**

 **Ponyta looked down as she spoke, "I do have a bit of an identity issue, I've had one for a few years now. I know Lampent was doing something, I don't trust him at all. But he did help me out, I know I have to fix this issue."**

 **-000-**

 **Lampent just shrugged as he stared at the camera.**

 **-000-**

Lopunny and Altaria were sitting at a booth within one of the many cafes in the city, both drinking coffee. The two were catching up, finally able to get a break since they started this job.

Altaria giggled at what Lopunny before she set down her cup, "So, tell me the details, how are you and that guy of yours doing?"

Lopunny rolled her eyes before showing Altaria a ring on her hand, a sheepish smile on her face, "We're engaged! We're still in the process of planning the wedding and I'm just so excited."

Altaria squealed before she hugged Lopunny over the table, "I'm so happy for you! I knew that you and Marvin were a good match, I'm so glad I set that up so long ago."

The normal-type blushed slightly as she hugged Altaria back, "This is why you're my best friend. You always provide the best advice!" The rabbit pulled away and took a sip of her coffee, sighing in content from the familiar taste, "How's the job going? We lost contact after your first year."

Altaria chuckled at that question, taking a sip of her coffee as well, "It's going great, actually. I'm not like all of those other teachers but the kids love me. They listen to me and so many come to me for advice, it's a dream come true." She reached into the bag she brought and pulled out a notebook, "I even decided to try to test my skills here, using the simulator. I've gathered a lot of information on our contestants, maybe I can use this information and the simulator to help them out."

Lopunny stared at the notebook for a few seconds before she smiled at the dragon-type, "You always amaze me, Rayna. Just don't mess with the competition too much."

Altaria smirked at Lopunny, putting the notebook away, "Of course I won't, Jacki. But we should get going, it's almost challenge time."

Lopunny nodded her head as she grabbed her phone off of the table, "Oh, that reminds me. Tai won't be coming today, the boss called him in. So you're going to maning the machine alone today."

Altaria groaned as she slid off her seat and onto the ground underneath the table. Lopunny rolled her eyes but let out a giggle, missing the time she missed with her friend.

 **-000-**

The contestants made their way back to the clearing after receiving their notification that still did not make much sense. But that did not matter to them, they were all ready for the next challenge.

As Slugma made her way towards the clearing, being the last person to arrive, Lopunny gave the group a smile, "You guys ready for your next challenge? It won't be as beautiful as the water challenge but it'll still be fun!"

As some of the contestants nodded their heads, Altaria continued on, "First, we have two announcements. The first is that the show will not air until we finish the season. It's an easier method than before for keeping information secret for you guys. The second one is that the special perk will no longer happen. We received a call a few nights ago saying that we're changing some things up. No more eight all-stars, for now, it can change in the future."

Numel gave the two a deadpan look before he spoke, "So information that we don't really care about?"

Altaria gave him a bright smile at this, "You got it! Wow Numel, you're _so_ smart! You must get all of the ladies with that intelligence."

Numel blushed slightly as he glared at the dragon-type, "Screw off…"

Lopunny giggled slightly before she faced the machine, "Well, follow me. This challenge may last for a while."

As the contestants filed into the simulator, Altaria flew over to the controls, pulling out her notebook. She flipped through a few pages as she muttered to herself, "Let's see here…What should I do today?"

 **-000-**

As the darkness faded away, the contestants found themselves in an area full of hills that looked untouched. The flora on the hills gave off a golden color as a soft breeze blew through the fields around the contestants. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, leaving it a bright blue color with the sun shining. It was peaceful…

On both sides from where the contestants were standing were two large forts, ballistas settled on top of both. In front of the openings were wooden fences with spiked tips, making it difficult to get through.

Lopunny clapped her hands together, grabbing the attention of the contestants, as she smiled at the group of fire-types, "Welcome to the Golden Hills! A very peaceful place perfect for the next challenge!"

Numel snorted at that, "Golden Hills? What an original name…" Charmeleon gave the camel a look before he slapped the back of his head. "Ow! What was that for?"

Lopunny gave the two an unimpressed look before she continued on with her explanation, "Anyways, the type for this challenge is steel! The reason being is that you guys will be playing capture the flag!"

Growlithe cheered at this, "Yay! I love capture the flag, it's such a fun game!"

The normal-type giggled at this before she continued on once again, "Now, there will be some special features and rules. The first rule is that you have to use the weapons found within your forts, which is why this is a steel type challenge. These weapons are special as you can combine them with your moves, giving them greater damage. However, you can only infuse your weapon with a move once, so pick carefully!"

Torkoal hummed to himself in thought for a second, "What about the ones without any hands?"

Lopunny giggled in response, "I was about to get to that. For those that can't hold a weapon, you will be able to wear a machine that will shoot arrows. All you have to do is command it to fire and it will fire. Don't worry about accuracy, you will have a scope hooked up so the arrow will fire at whatever you are looking at. Or you can use some of the special weapons found within the fort."

Torkoal nodded his head in understanding, "I see…This will be an interesting day."

Lopunny nodded her head as well before she continued, "Now, you all will have health points, hp, that will fall with every hit you will take. Everyone's health bars will show, and you just need to look up to see your own. Once your health reaches zero, you will be teleported back to your fort in a bed, and you cannot move until your health is back to full.

"The ballistas up top can be shot at anyone and will deal damage to everyone around the area hit. The moves will be random and will have an area-of-effect, so be careful. The first team to grab the flag and bring it to your fort will win."

Before the contestants could start talking to themselves, they were teleported away as Lopunny appeared in a box overlooking the area.

 **-000-**

Charmeleon picked up a sword, examining it, as the rest of his team did the same. There was a list of moves for each person on the wall, so he was trying to figure out who should do what.

Larvesta laughed loudly as he picked up a mace, "This will do wonders! A hero must know how to use every weapon to their advantage so this will be my practice!" The mace was almost as big as he was yet the bug-type handled it with ease.

Charmeleon looked back to the sword and noticed that there was an interface protruding from the weapon. It had a list of his moves and what they would do, so he decided on Fire Fang. He looked over towards his team, "So… Let's see who should go what."

After a few minutes of discussion, everyone knew their move and had chosen their weapon. Charmeleon had a sword with the move Fire Fang, which would do bleeding damage over time. Larvesta chose a mace with Bug Bite, which did the same as Charmeleon's Fire Fang. Magmar chose a staff that she had found as well as Fire Punch, which would deal more impact damage but also had a cooldown. Torchic chose the arrow machine due to her lack of arms as well as Flame Burst, which would make areas explode with fire. Lampent chose a sword as well as Shadow Ball, which will allow the ghost-type to fire Shadow Balls from a distance for half damage. Finally, Numel decided to take the arrow machine and Earth Power, which would make the ground explode around the area of impact.

Numel groaned as he put the machine on his back, "This makes me look stupid…"

Charmeleon rolled his eyes as he swung his sword around a bit, "You already looked stupid, you have nothing to worry about. Now, we must talk strategy."

Magmar bowed her head slightly as she faced Charmeleon, "I offer myself to defend the flag, no one will be able to get past me."

Charmeleon nodded his head, "I trust you can do well. I'll have Numel and Torchic on top, firing arrows and the ballista as they have area-of-effect moves already. And they are slow compared to the rest of us. So that leaves me with Lampent and Larvesta to go capture the flag."

Torchic sighed slightly as she looked down, "I suppose that's fair…"

Charmeleon looked at the little chick before he looked at Numel, remembering their deal. He groaned in his head as he bent down to Torchic's level, "Look, I know you aren't the fastest or the strongest but that doesn't mean you're any less important to this team. I can trust your aim and I can trust that you won't hit your fellow teammates. You will do well."

Torchic perked up a little at this, "Really?" Charmeleon nodded his head in response, making the little fire-type jump in joy, "Thank you so much! That means a lot to me!"

Charmeleon chuckled slightly as he stood up, "We got this team!"

 **-000-**

 **Torchic smiled as she looked down at her feet, "I always thought Charmeleon was a mean guy...But he made me feel a lot better! He's right, even though I'm not strong or fast, I can still do something!"**

 **-000-**

 **Charmeleon let out a chuckle as he leaned backwards, "Seeing Torchic's smile really made me feel better about myself. This deal was a great idea, now I just have to get Numel to start being nice as well. He looks to be struggling."**

 **-000-**

Braixen looked over towards Ninetales in worry, who was giggling to herself as she slowly caressed a book in her paws. The fox was the team's unofficial leader yet she was out of commission it seems.

Braixen turned towards Torkoal, who was one of the smartest people on the team. "Sir, do you have any plans as for weapons and moves?"

Torkoal was surprised, and laughed his signature laugh, "No no, not yet my dear. But give me a few moments, I will be able to think of a plan." Torkoal slowly moved around the weapons room, looking over the weapons, Pokemon, and moves.

Soon after, Torkoal was able to piece together a plan for weapons. He would be using the arrow machine with Protect mixed in, which would allow Torkoal to create shields that would last a few minutes. Ponyta wore a pair of armored boots, which allowed her to infuse them with Fire Spin so she could trap people in a fire vortex. Braixen took a sword with Psybeam, allowing her to blast her enemies with the psychic move at half damage. Ninetales decided not to listen to Torkoal and took two daggers with Hex on them, which would do double damage to enemies with status ailments. In response to that, Salandit took daggers with Toxic, which poisoned his enemies. Slugma took an arrow machine with Rock Slide, which would make rocks fall at the area of impact. Finally, Growlithe took metal claws with Roar, which would deal more impact damage and knock enemies back.

Braixen, satisfied, nodded her head with a smile, "We will be able to win this challenge. We have a numbers advantage."

Torkoal laughed as he also nodded his head, "That we do, my dear. And we have a lot of synergy on our team."

Braixen agreed as she watched Growlithe run throughout the fort, checking everything out. "You and Slugma stay on top of the fort. Provide defense where it is needed. Salandit will stay with Ninetales, who will charge the fort. Ponyta and Growlithe will stay behind to defend the flag. I will also be running to go capture the flag. It is a nice plan."

Torkoal looked away slightly at this, chuckling, "Thank you my dear. I try my best, I'm glad that I can help out the team."

 **-000-**

Lopunny, who was watching two screens, nodded her head. In her floating box above the battlefield, she grabbed a megaphone, "It seems like both teams are ready! You may begin… Now!"

Both teams jumped into action instantly. Torkoal and Slugma climbed to the top of their fort while Torchic and Numel did the same. Charmeleon, Lampent, Larvesta, Ninetales, Salandit, and Braixen all rushed out towards the battlefield. Due to the large distance between the two forts, the charging Pokemon were open to the enemy.

 **-000-**

Numel hummed to herself, happy to be in the middle of a battle, as he aimed his weapon. "I'm so going to enjoy this." He aimed right on front of the charging Pokemon and ordered his machine to fire.

The arrow, infused by the Earth Power, slammed in front of Salandit's path. Braixen and Ninetales were able to quickly dodge out of the way before the arrow exploded, causing the ground to rupture. As the dust cleared away, it was revealed that Salandit was protected by a shield, thanks to Torkoal.

Salandit blinked away his surprise before he quickly stood back up. "Man, I am one lucky fellow!"

Numel growled to himself as he glared at the other fort. However, he was too far away to be able to see the Pokemon on top of it, so he decided not to fire. He looked over towards the ballista and saw that the arrow inside of it had some writing on it.

Torchic was looking towards the oncoming Pokemon and saw an arrow flying at her team on the ground, fired by Slugma. Torchic knew that she couldn't really do anything so she decided to fire at the oncoming arrow. Torchic's arrow did not hit the oncoming arrow, but it soon sent out an explosion because of the Flame Burst, knocking the arrow off course. She let out a laugh, knowing she actually did _something_.

On the ground, the two sides were about to meet. Charmeleon readied his sword just as Braixen lifted up hers, firing a Psybeam. A Shadow Ball flew over the lizard, countering the Psybeam easily. Both attacks fizzled out as Salandit launched himself Charmeleon.

Larvesta let out a boisterous laugh as he swung his mace, smashing the poison lizard in the abdomen, "Don't touch my team!"

Salandit flew backwards, past Braixen and Ninetales, before slamming onto the ground. His health bar dropped after he landed, and it continued to fall for another few seconds. He coughed before sitting up, "I'm okay!"

Ninetales let out a malicious giggle as the two tails holding the daggers came forward. Another tail held up the book in front of her, so she began he chant. A crimson aura surrounded the fox as the smell of iron filled the air.

Charmeleon held up his sword once again, wary, "What she doing? Careful you two!" Lampent, however, did not listen.

The lamp flew towards the fox at a brisk pace, dodging the blasts shot at him from Braixen. The Ninetales giggled again as she watched the ghost-type come towards her. The aura faded before Lampent reached her, but that didn't matter.

Lampent attempted to slash at the fox, only for her to easily dodge the attack. The momentum of the slash carried him forward, allowing Ninetales to slash at him with her daggers. And she did just that, not letting up until the ghost-type vanished from view, defeated.

Watching his comrade fall, Charmeleon charged at Braixen, who met him blow for blow. The two could not hit each other as they continued to block each hit. Charmeleon went for a feint jab to the side, which Braixen tried to block, only to attack her with an overhead slash. The attack hit and the fox fell backwards, taking continuous damage for a few seconds afterwards. Before Charmeleon could press further, an arrow flew towards him. The lizard jumped backwards as a shield appeared on front of Braixen.

Panting slightly, Braixen stood back up, her sword at the ready. She fired a Psybeam as the shield vanished, making Charmeleon fall to the ground just to dodge the attack. The lizard let out a growl, his eyes narrowing, before he launched forward, meeting the fox blow for blow once again.

Meanwhile, Larvesta was facing both Salandit and Ninetales, who both held light and fast weapons while the bug-type carried a larger and slower weapon. This did not deter him, however, as he wielded the mace with ease, flashing his dazzling smile at the two enemy Pokemon.

Salandit charged at the bug toward the ground while Ninetales charged from above, leaving Larvesta with little to do. However, the bug jumped up, slamming the mace onto the lizard, making him disappear. Ninetales took the opportunity to slash at the bug twice, dealing normal damage. Confident, the fox advanced on the bug, who fell with a grunt. However, as the fox used her tails to slash at the bug, Larvesta jumped over the daggers, reading his mace. The book was now in range, and Larvesta was aiming for it. Ever since Ninetales started carrying it around, the bug-type knew it was bad news, it just emanated an evil aura.

With a yell, Larvesta slammed his mace into the book, sending it flying from Ninetales' grasp. The fox let out a scream as an arrow flew from the Blazikens side. Larvesta grabbed the book and threw it at the arrow, making it impale the object. Seconds later, the arrow exploded with fire, destroying the book within seconds.

Ninetales stared in shock at the ashes from the powerful book before letting out an anguished cry, "No! My book! I-I'm powerless! I'm nothing!" Before Larvesta could jump towards the fox, four arrows surrounded him. Within seconds, the bug-type found himself surrounded by rocks–even the top was covered.

By now, Charmeleon had forced Braixen back to a point where they had reached the other fire-type fox, who was sobbing on the ground. Braixen was starting to slow down, which made Charmeleon press her even more, trying to gain an advantage.

Braixen let out a grunt as she blocked a particularly powerful blow that made her arm throb afterwards. A few arrows tried to come to the fox's aid but Torchic continued to knock them out of the air. She looked towards her fallen friend, "Ninetales! Please, ma'am, I need you right now!"

Ninetales continued to cry, which Charmeleon ignored, "B-But my book has been destroyed! Litleo was right, I'm weak! I-I need the book to be strong!"

Braixen let out a growl as she blocked a few more blows from Charmeleon, who was too focused on taking down his target. She glanced at her friend once again, "You are wrong! You are not weak, you're one of the strongest people I know! The book didn't do anything, that was all in your head. All of that strength came from you, my friend! Channel your strength and help me!"

As Braixen continued to try to convince Ninetales to get back up, her blocks grew even slower. With a snarl, Charmeleon used a fake swipe once again before slashing at her torso, knocking her backwards. Braixen let out a scream as her health bar dropped dangerously low and it continued to tick down. However, her scream knocked some sense into Ninetales, who launched herself towards Charmeleon, knocking them both down.

Ninetales growled at the lizard as she quickly got back up, glancing at Braixen, "You're right Braixen. But the book did teach me something about myself."

Charmeleon slowly got up, a bit tired from fighting Braixen already, as he watched Ninetales walk towards him. An arrow passed over her, but she didn't pay in any mind as she readied her daggers.

Ninetales let out a chuckle as Charmeleon readied his sword, "Look, I disliked you the moment we met. And now...I get to destroy you. First, you will lose this battle, then, you will lose the challenge. I will get rid of you." She glared at the lizard before rushing at him, using her tails to slash at him. Charmeleon tried to blocks the blows but he was quickly losing ground.

As Ninetales continued to push Charmeleon back, she got a few hits in, dropping the lizard's health with each slash. This continued on until a scream distracted both. Ninetales turned away as she watched Braixen disappear, leaving behind a Larvesta holding his mace. The rock cage behind him was destroyed, thanks to Numel's arrow from earlier.

Charmeleon let out a chuckle, "Looks like you guys have lost this battle." Larvesta flashed Ninetales his dazzling smile before both Pokemon attacked the fox, making her disappear within seconds.

Before either of them could move, a ballista bullet slammed into the ground between the two. It exploded with a green light, healing the two until their health bars were full. Charmeleon smirked at the bug-type as he turned towards the enemy fortress, "Let's go. I think it takes some time until they're back up to full health." Larvesta nodded his head and the two were off.

 **-000-**

Ninetales slammed her fist on the frame of the bed she was trapped in, growling, "Dammit! Only if that stupid slug crushed that damn bug, we would have won!"

Salandit rose an eyebrow at this, having been told what happened, and spoke up, "But she trapped him long enough for Braixen to convince you to fight again. Larvesta is a fast guy, so for Slugma to trap him like that, it's impressive."

Ninetales glared at the lizard in front of her, "Don't even get me started on you. You did nothing! How do you expect my Hex to work if you can't poison the other team?"

Braixen gasped to herself at this, "Salandit did the best he could. I don't think it was anyone's fault."

Ninetales let out a humorless chuckle at this, "Oh really? Salandit is useless, Slugma screwed up big time and Torkoal isn't setting up shields like he should be. Everyone is just useless!"

Salandit growled at the fox as Braixen looked down, "And what have you done exactly? You were too bu-"

"Enough!" Ninetales roared out, making both Pokemon flinch. Salandit grumbled to himself as Braixen sighed sadly. She didn't know what to do about her friend…

 **-000-**

Numel let out a laugh as Lampent flew away from ballista, "Great thinking, Lampent! You just made it so much easier for them now."

Lampent shrugged his arms, since he didn't really have shoulders, and floated towards the flag room. "Follow. Everyone go."

Torchic and Numel shared looks of confusion but followed Lampent anyways. As they reached the flag room, Magmar walked out with an annoyed expression and Lampent in tow. Lampent flew out of the fort, expecting the three to follow, which they did.

After about ten minutes, the group found Charmeleon and Larvesta hiding behind a rock. Charmeleon noticed the group approaching them and gave them a look, "Why are you all here? The enemy may sneak away and grab our flag."

Lampent floated forward, ignoring Charmeleon, "All attack. Rush, take flag."

Larvesta nodded his head in thought, "That could work. If we catch them off guard, we can easily take their flag."

Charmeleon sighed slightly before giving his team a smile, "Alright team! We got this!"

 **-000-**

Ninetales, fully healed, paced in front of her team, including Ponyta and Growlithe, "According to Slugma and Torkoal, the enemy disappeared from their fort. That means they must be doing a full frontal assault. We need to defeat them, we have the advantage. I will _not_ accept failure, got it?" Her team mumbled their understanding. "Good! Now, get ready!"

A few moments later, the wooden doors leading to the outside burst open from a fiery explosion. Numerous Shadow Balls were fired, which Braixen tried to counter but a few got through. Slugma got hit twice while Salandit was hit once, making their health drop a bit.

Charmeleon, Larvesta, and Magmar jumped out of the fire from the front gate, their weapons at the ready. Two arrows flew forward, hitting the ground in front of Torkoal and Slugma and exploding, dealing damage to them both. Salandit, Ninetales, Growlithe, and Braixen ran forwards to meet the group of charging Pokemon.

Larvesta encountered both Salandit and Ninetales again, and was dodging their attacks fairly well. He smashed his mace against Ninetales' face before flipping over the fox. Salandit managed to slash at the bug before he landed, poisoning him. However, Larvesta remained strong and slammed Salandit into the ground with his mace just as an arrow hit the ground between the three. Larvesta flashed the two Pokemon his dazzling smile before he jumped away as the ground exploded, making the two Pokemon disappear.

Charmeleon met with Growlithe as the two exchanged blows. Every attack Charmeleon blocked from the pup made his arm shake from the impacts, thanks to Growlithe's Roar. After a few seconds, Charmeleon was blown back slightly but was saved from one of Torchic's arrows, giving him the perfect opportunity to strike back. With a few quick strikes, Charmeleon was able to dispatch the pup. Before he disappeared, Growlithe looked at Charmeleon with admiration.

Magmar was dodging arrows from Slugma as she tried to take on Braixen. Being a weapons expert, Magmar was able to change stances easily, proving to be a major problem. She had disarmed Braixen before Torkoal shielded her while Slugma provided cover. However, Slugma's reign of terror was brought to an end as Lampent appeared behind her. Within seconds, Lampent made the slug disappear as Braxien grabbed her weapon.

Before the two could double team the fox, Ponyta tackled Lampent out of the way, setting up a flame barrier so Magmar could not follow and no arrows could enter the fight. Magmar shrugged her shoulders before she faced Braixen while Torkoal was focused on Ponyta. Magmar bowed in front of the fox before she readied her weapon.

Braixen took a deep breath before she readied her weapon, "I must defeat you, ma'am. For the sake of my team and for my friend."

Magmar glanced at Torchic for a second before looking back at Braixen, "Unfortunately, I have to win for the same reasons." Braixen nodded her head in understanding before she charged at the weapons expert. However, the fox was disarmed within seconds. "You fought honorably. You have my respect." Within a few seconds, the fox disappeared from the battle, defeated.

As the flame barrier disappeared—as Ponyta was defeated—Torkoal was the only one left standing. He sighed as he laid down his weapon, knowing that he could not protect the flag at all.

The Blazkiens let out a cheer as Charmeleon grabbed the flag, and soon, they were all racing towards their base in celebration. All except for Numel, who couldn't keep up, and Lampent, who didn't care enough. As the team reached the flag room, they noticed a slot for the enemy's flag.

Charmeleon looked around at his team before he noticed Torchic. Without her excellent aim and quick thinking, the arrows of Torkoal and Slugma would have been too much to handle. So, he walked over towards the little chick and gave her a smile, "Torchic...Without you, we would have probably lost. I want you to put the flag in...Well, with help of course." His team joined chuckled at this as Torchic looked up in awe.

The little chick walked up to the flag before looking up at Charmeleon, "A-Are you sure? I didn't really do anything, I'm not-"

Charmeleon stopped her with his hand, "I am pretty sure. You did so much and you are a lot stronger than you think."

Torchic, with tears in her eyes, nodded her head, "But I wouldn't have been able to do it without any of you. How about we all put the flag in?" With that, everyone in the flag room, including Numel who showed up at the right time, placed a hand, paw, or some type of limb on the pole of the flag as they guided it to the slot. With a cheer, they all shoved the flag in.

"And the Blazikens win the challenge! Flareons, that means you will have an elimination tonight. But don't worry about that, we have a wonderful picnic set up for everyone here! Come out to the middle of the field!"

 **-000-**

"Welcome Flareons to your second elimination ceremony!" Lopunny exclaimed with a smile as she held up another platter of marshmallows. "All of the votes are in and one of you will be heading home tonight." Throughout the majority of the picnic, Ninetales had campaigned to get Slugma out, so everyone was rather confident about who was going home.

Lopunny picked up two marshmallows and threw them. "The first two safe are Ponyta and Growlithe!" Ponyta didn't see the marshmallow while Growlithe jumped into the air to grab his. Regardless, the two smiled at each other.

Lopunny threw two more marshmallows at the next safe players. "Torkoal and Salandit are also safe." Torkoal laughed his usual laugh as the marshmallow landed in front of him while Salandit somehow caught his.

Lopunny pick up one more marshmallow as she looked between the three Pokemon, "You all have received votes. Ninetales, your personality has changed completely throughout your time here. Slugma, you have not been much help in challenges because you don't really have limbs. And Braixen...You know you don't belong here. Anyways, the next one safe is...Braixen!" Braixen sighed softly as she watched the marshmallow hit the ground on front of her.

Lopunny picked up the last marshmallow as everyone looked between the two females, "And the last one safe, with only one vote, is...Slugma! Ninetales, you are the fourth eliminated contestant."

Ninetales stared at Slugma in shock as the marshmallow hit the slug and burned to cinders in seconds, "What? How could you vote me out over this useless piece of trash?"

Salandit shrugged his shoulders as he ate his marshmallow. "Probably because we like her more than you. You've went from being creepy to being a jerk. We like Slugma, so we kept her in." Ninetales let out a scream at this.

Lopunny cleared her throat as the same black vehicle pulled up. "Ninetales, also known as Whisper, you must enter the limousine and ride towards the Hotel of Losers." Ninetales growled as she looked over her team before following orders.

As she climbed into the back of the car, she shouted out to her team, "You all will pay for this!" And with that, she was gone.

As the contestants left to go to their trailers, Lopunny turned towards the camera with a smile, "And there you have it! Whisper is now out of the game but we still have twelve more competitors! Make sure to check back with us next time on Total… Pokemon… Blazing Inferno!"

 **-000-**

 **Ponyta sighed as she looked at the camera, "I can't believe I lost to Lampent, even after what he did to me...But I will still be here. Ninetales, she can't stay here so I vote for her."**

 **-000-**

 **Braixen looked conflicted as she stared at the votes in front of her, "I do not want to vote for my friend but there is no one else that I can vote for...So I choose to vote for her myself."**

 **-000-**

 **Ninetales gave the camera a glare, "My team is full of useless idiots! Except for Braixen, she knows what she's doing. But I choose to get rid of the slug, she should have gotten out last time!"**

 **-000-**

 **Slugma looked down, upset, "Ninetales isn't wrong...I am pretty useless. But I'm still going to vote for her."**

 **-000-**

 **Salandit gave the camera a deadpan expression as he voted, "It's rather obvious. No need to kick someone when they're already down."**

 **-000-**

 **Torkoal didn't have much of an expression as he voted, "Ninetales had a lot of potential. But she chose to waste it. What a shame."**

 **-000-**

 **Growlithe, with his ears folded back, whimpered slightly, "Ninetales is really mean...I don't like mean people."**

 **-000-**

Whisper barged into her room with an angry expression, just to find Lilith lounging on sofa in their room. She waved to the fox as Whisper walked over to a bed, "Looks like you followed my advice and used the book. I'm proud of you."

The Ninetales snarled at the Litleo, "Shut up! It's your fault that I'm in this stupid mess!"

Lilith let out a chuckle as she got up and stretched. "Nah. That was all you, I saw the evil inside of you and just had to let it out." Lilith laughed as she walked out of the room, leaving behind a fuming Whisper.

Lilith continued on her way out of the hotel and outside, looking around as if searching for someone. Eventually, she found what she was looking for and ran behind the hotel. Standing in front of her was the legendary Pokemon Genesect.

Genesect gave her a look as she ran up to him. "Took ya long enough. Arceus will flip if he finds out where I am."

Lilith rolled her eyes at the before holding out her hand, "Whatever. Do you have the information?"

"Indeed I do…"

 **-000-**

16th- Litleo, aka Lilith (The Seven Sins)

15th- Emboar, aka Patrick (The Earthshaking Fatass)

14th- Darumaka, aka Dan (The Tranquill)

13th- Ninetales, aka Whisper (The Ruthless Tyrant)

 **-000-**

 **And there goes that originally boring character. When I planned Ninetales, I was going to have her be a threat that would be a problem later on in the game. Then I started to get a bit crazy and thought about, well, blood magic. And Ninetales' character fit that bill perfectly! But, instead of going what I planned for her again, I decided to reveal her actual personality, which is the Ruthless Tyrant.**

 **There also seemed to be a lot of plot this chapter. We had some world building in the beginning, which is about my character Chance the Chesnaught and his adventures, which is a story no one really knows. We also learn more about the conflict between legendary Pokemon and mortal Pokemon, as well as why Type:Null may have created TPRT. And then finally, we have the evil character talking to one of the legendary Pokemon, which can only spell out trouble…**

 **Anyways, I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. It was a blast to write and I only hope it was a blast to read! Make sure to leave a review about, well, anything! Also, special thanks to Prem for helping me out with this chapter, mostly for editing but he did help with a scene.**


	6. Chapter 6

**What is up guys, your favorite Nobody is here with another chapter! Last time, the contestants found themselves in a small battle of Capture the Flag with a bit of a twist. With the use of their weapons, strategy and teamwork, the Blazikens were able to steal the Flareon's flag and the win. After a shift of personality from Ninetales, she was sent home, making Whisper the fourth person eliminated from Total Pokemon Blazing Inferno! Stay tuned to find out who leaves next.**

 **-000-**

After everyone went to bed after the challenge and dinner, Altaria flew back towards the simulator. Apparently the contestants forgot something about this machine: if something goes in, it comes back out the same way. Ninetales, while caught up in her grief, seemingly forgot that her book was, in fact, not destroyed. Everyone else seemed to have forgotten about the magical book in the back of the simulator, all but Altaria.

However, after the challenge, the dragon-type was approached but a dark figure, asking her to meet them at the simulator that night for the book. The co-host agreed to meet, and so here she was, holding the book close to her and looking out for the dark figure.

A few moments later, Altaria noticed a dark figure walking towards her, the same one from earlier that day. Despite the lights around Amity Square, it was as if this person was under the light of a new moon. It freaked Altaria out a bit but the calming presence surrounding the figure put her back to ease within seconds.

"You have the book?" the figure asked, its voice indistinguishable between whether it was male or female. Altaria nodded her head slowly before she held the book out in front of here, which the figure took. The figure was definitely bipedal so it held the book with no problem.

"What are you going to use the book for?" Altaria found herself asking the figure. The figure let out a chuckle as it held up the book.

"This book is for the future wielder of the thirteen magical books," the figure replied simply. "It fell into the wrong hands at first. We need this book so we can lure the future wielder out of this competition, getting her ready for the battle that's about to begin."

"Future battle?" Altaria asked, confused. "What are you talking about? Why are you telling me all of this?"

"You'll find out in due time," the figure told the dragon-type before it turned around. "Keep an eye on these competitors and continue doing what you are doing. You are very important for the future."

With that last sentence, the figure started to walk away, leaving behind a confused Altaria. She eventually shrugged her shoulders and left the area, deciding to turn in for the night. However, a pair of eyes watched her leave before they too, disappeared.

 **-000-**

 **The same dark figure stood in front of the camera as it began to speak, "People of the world, listen to what I have to say! Be ready for the battle that will take place soon! The future will be changed for the better!"**

 **-000-**

Dan and Patrick walked towards the main lobby of the hotel that they were staying at, bored at this point. There was no one around except for Lilith and Whisper, and the staff of course, but it was hard to talk to any of hem. The two have been getting along great throughout their time here and quickly became great friends.

As the walked into the lobby, Patrick noticed both Lilith and Whisper lounging about. Well, it was more of Lilith sleeping on some couches while Whisper silently seethed to herself, angry at her loss.

"Morning girls!" Patrick exclaimed as he walked over to them, taking a seat in front of Whisper. The Ninetales glared at the Emboar, making him flinch.

"What do you want?" Whisper asked with a growl, glaring at Dan as he sat next to Patrick.

"We're bored," Dan replied, not phased much by the harsh glare that was being sent his way. "Might as well try to make some conversation."

"Can you talk a little quieter?" Lilith asked with a yawn as she stretched a bit on the couch. "It was so peaceful before you two idiots came her. Little miss tyrant here isn't much better."

"You weren't even in your room last night," Whisper snapped at Lilith, who only grinned in response.

"I know," Lilith said with a laugh. "I'm glad to see that my handiwork was successful. You'll make a great evil little minion in the future."

"Oh shut it," the Ninetales muttered, slightly embarrassed as she recalled her behavior from before. "I'm not meant to be a minion anyways. The fat one and the boring one are meant to be minions while I'm set up to be a ruler." With a huff, Whisper quickly stood up and left the lobby.

Lilith let out a laugh before she turned towards the two boys, "You know, you shouldn't take crap like that from people like her. Stand up for yourselves and, like, argue and stuff. Make it entertaining while you're at it."

"We know that you're trying to make us look evil," Patrick told her with a sigh. "We're not going to fall for it, okay?"

"Whatever," Lilith replied as she rolled her eyes, getting up and walking out of the lobby as she did so. Patrick and Dan were left alone once again and they both let out a sigh.

"You know, Lilith is right," Dan told Patrick as they both stood up. "We need to start standing up for yourself. Especially you. You get called fat everyday and refuse to say anything about it."

"I see no need to," Patrick said as he rubbed his head sheepishly.

"You won't get far in life with that attitude," Dan said as he walked out of the lobby as well, Patrick right behind him. "Remember that note?"

"I have it right here," Patrick replied as he held up the worn note in front of him. "You're right… And so is Lilith, surprisingly. I wonder why she offered some advice to us."

"Probably to make us evil or something. You never know," Dan said as he shrugged his shoulders. "C'mon. Let's get some food, I need to take my pills anyways and it's best if I eat beforehand."

 **-000-**

Slugma let out a sneeze, flinging embers across the small area. Salandit sighed as he watched the embers burn some of the grass around him before turning back towards his book. No matter how many books the lizard has read, there was no known illness that had all of Slugma's symptoms… And she had everything!

What's even worse is that her symptoms came and went randomly. Except for her sneezing, but there was no mucus or anything. Just her spit, which happened to be little embers. Salandit was completely clueless at this point and he's just reading a book on mental disorders.

It could be possible that everything was inside the poor slug's head and she didn't even know. The lizard could give Slugma a placebo but he didn't know if it would work.

A few moments later, Salandit threw the book to the side, frustrated. There was nothing he can find to help Slugma! So… He was going to take a gamble and go the placebo route. With his luck these past few weeks, he had high hopes that he might have found the solution.

"Well, did you find something?" Slugma asked eagerly. She was putting all of her hope in the salamander as everyone else gave up on her and her problem.

Salandit sighed to himself before forcing a smile on his face, "Yeah! I found it awhile ago and just wanted to double check myself!"

"Really?" Slugma asked as a smile spread across her face. The smile made Salandit feel very guilty but also pretty happy.

"Yeah. It said in the book that you need to take two sugar pills every twelve hours," Salandit replied, trying not to flinch from the lie. Usually, he hated lying to others but he knew it would help Slugma… Probably.

"Really?" Slugma repeated, this time in disbelief. "That doesn't sound right…"

"Yes! Your body is lacking a special mineral found within sugar and is more prominent in sugar pills!" There was a moment of silence that followed this exclamation. Salandit thought his heart would burst, as it was beating rather fast because of this lie and tension.

"Okay!" Slugma exclaimed, a smile appearing on her face once again. "Do you think you can come with me to pick up a bottle or two?"

"Yeah, sure," Slugma replied after letting out a sigh of relief. He smile, happy that Slugma actually seemed happy. Compared to all of the other times she smiled, this one look genuine.

"You're a great friend, Salandit," Slugma told him as the two started to walk towards the city. "I don't see why you're so down on yourself. You're a lot better than what you give yourself credit for."

"Wait, I only complained about life in general," Salandit said as he raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"I read in between the lines," Slugma replied as she sent him a wink. "Since I've been sick my entire life, I read a lot. I learned to figure out what a person is actually saying when telling a story, and now I can do that during conversations."

"Well...You would be correct then," Salandit admitted with a sigh. "Want to talk about it while we grab lunch? After you get your pills of course."

"Sure! Sounds like fun!" Slugma exclaimed as she followed Salandit.

 **-000-**

 **Salandit nervously looked at the camera, fiddling with one of his fingers, "I hope the placebo works. I enjoy seeing Slugma happy and it would kill both of us if she becomes depressed again. I hope lady luck smiles down on me…"**

 **-000-**

Braixen sighed as she flipped through the book in front of her, not really reading it. She's been down ever since Ninetales was eliminated from the game, and Growlithe has been trying to cheer her up.

"I'm back!" Growlithe exclaimed as he walked into the library, just to be hushed seconds later by the others within the building. He sheepishly smiled at them before he made his way towards Braixen. "What's up?"

"Just reading," Braixen replied, not looking up from the book.

"What's it about?" Growlithe asked as he peered over the top of the book, trying to read the words upside down.

"I lied, I am not actually reading," Braixen replied with a sigh as she closed the book. She knew that the dog Pokemon would tell that she was lying so there was no need to do so.

"Braixen, what's wrong?" Growlithe asked softly as he jumped up onto the chair next to her. "Is it about Ninetales? Uh, I mean Whisper!" Once again, Growlithe was shushed by the people around the library.

"You should not be screaming," Braixen told him with a soft giggle before she looked down at the book cover. "But you are right, I am thinking about Ninetales. I do not understand why she hid herself like that and why she was so mean at the end."

"Well… Maybe she was forced to be that way?" Growlithe offered with a kind smile. "We don't know much about each other's past. Either way, she needs some fun in her life!"

"I… Did not think about that…" Braixen admitted, looking up towards Growlithe. "Is it possible that I am unable to properly see where other people are from? I am doomed to only look through my perspective?"

"Nope!" Growlithe exclaimed with a smile, eyes closed to add to the effect. "If you find that that's an issue, you can now work towards the solution!"

"Growlithe, you are a genius!" Braixen told him with a smile. Growlithe opened his eyes to find an elderly Golduck beside him, holding up a cane.

"You need to learn some manners, young man!" The Golduck exclaimed as she started to smack Growlithe's head. Growlithe let out a shocked yelp before jumping off the chair, running away.

"No please! I was helping my friend!" Growlithe screamed out as he ran out the library doors. The elder Golduck pursued him at a much slower pace.

"Get back here! You need to learn some manners!" And with that, the fire-type and the water-type were out of sight.

Braixen stared at the doors in amusement, muttering a "strange" before she looked down at the book once more. The book looked like the Blood Magic book Ninetales was holding, except this time, the book was titled "Life Magic." She tilted her head to the side as she studied the green book a little more.

Growlithe's words echoed in her head and before she knew it, the fox was checking out the Life Magic book. After she was done at the counter, Braixen rushed off to find a secluded place in Amity Square, ready to read the supposed magical book.

 **-000-**

 **Braixen looked over the green book as she spoke, "Growlithe is right. I do have an issue with seeing the other side. But now… Now is the time to work on that. What if these books are actually magical…?"**

 **She sighed as she shook her head, placing the book in her lap, "I must figure this out!"**

 **-000-**

 **Growlithe rubbed his head gently, groaning in pain, "Old ladies are very strong…"**

 **-000-**

"I never knew how amazing Charmeleon can be!" Torchic exclaimed, once again, as she walked around the city with Magmar. "I always thought that he was mean, but he proved me wrong in the last challenge!"

"You have said this before, yes," Magmar replied, looking down towards the chick Pokemon. "This is a common topic for you."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. But it's just mind blowing!" Torchic exclaimed, making Magmar smile a little.

"How has your training been?" Magmar asked, folding her arms as she looked at Torchic from the corner of her eye.

"So far so good!" Torchic exclaimed. "Larvesta has been teaching me some pretty great things and I'm super determined! I won't allow myself to be weak anymore!"

"Good," Magmar replied with a soft smile. "Have you felt the pull of evolution yet? You should be close."

"Not yet," Torchic answered as she shook her head. "I hope I can evolve soon, this form is not the best one there is."

"You'll evolve at the right time, I am sure of it," Magmar said as she reached down and rubbed Torchic's head. "But for now, I think this form is good enough for you. You have yet to fully accomplish all that you can while you are a Torchic."

"I suppose," Torchic sighed out, not affected by Magmar's actions. "I just feel like I can't do enough. What if someone gets hurt or the team needs me? What if Lampent robs someone? There's so many things that can happen that I would be too weak to help out with!"

"Trust me, you are strong enough," Magmar reassured Torchic. "You may not feel it yet but you will find that you have great strength."

"Then how am I going to help out that Pinsir being robbed by Lampent?" Torchic asked as she looked towards the ghost-type taking money from a Pinsir.

"What?" Magmar asked sharply as she whipped her head towards the direction her friend was looking at. With a growl, she turned back towards Torchic, "I will take care of this, stay here."

Magmar sped off towards Lampent, who heard her coming. With a sigh, Lampent dropped the bug-type Pokemon and phased through the fence that led to the alleyway. Magmar, however, was not going to let him get away. The fire-type quickly scaled the fence and ran after the ghost-type, leaving the Pinsir behind.

Torchic sighed as she watched Magmar easily scale the fence before looking down towards her small body. Torchic, right then and there, wanted to evolve so much that it hurt, but she knew she couldn't do it. With another sigh, the chick Pokemon wandered over towards the fallen bug-type before helping him pick up his money.

 **-000-**

 **Torchic looked over her body with a soft sigh, "I'm getting tired of being like this. It's not helping anyone!" She let out a small growl as a determined expression appeared, "I will evolve soon! I'll make myself do it if I have to! I'm done being weak, I will grow stronger even if it kills me!"**

 **-000-**

Torkoal hummed to himself as he walked out of the contest hall, satisfied by who won the most recent competition, the Flareon definitely deserved the win in his opinion. She was absolutely dazzling and beautiful, a stunning sight for everyone that watched the contest. As Torkoal recalled the performance, a small blush appeared on his face.

Torkoal cleared his throat and shook his head, the blush disappearing rather quickly. He was not really one to find anyone attractive so this was a new experience for him. The tortoise couldn't have a blush showing on his face, it just won't do whatsoever.

As Torkoal walked through the streets of the city, he noticed a peculiar person walk into the church. Throughout his talks with Ponyta, she never gave away that she was religious…

Curious, Torkoal followed the horse inside the large building and found very few people within the pews. He looked around and found Ponyta in one of the pews, head down and eyes closed. Torkoal made his way over towards Ponyta, his eyes wandering subconsciously. A few seconds later, he found himself looking over the horse, a small blush on his face once again.

Torkoal immediately stopped in his tracks as he felt his face heat up, shaking his head once again. He guessed that the performance must have made him feel a bit different for some reason, it'll wear off soon.

Once the blush was gone, Torkoal continued on his way and sat next to Ponyta once he reached her pew. Ponyta lifted up her head and opened her eyes as she heard the tortoise sit next to her.

"What's up?" Ponyta asked as she looked at Torkoal. "I didn't peg you as the religious type, but it would make sense. You are a wise dude."

"I'm just checking up on you," Torkoal replied as he let out his signature laugh. "I saw you enter the church and grew curious. Are you troubled by something?"

"Honestly, yeah," Ponyta said as she let out a soft chuckle. "I don't know if you can really help me. I don't think anyone can help me."

"Try me," Torkoal said with a smile as he turned his body towards the fire horse.

"Alright, well, I don't know," Ponyta said with a shrug. "I guess I'm just confused about who I am. I switch from chill to excited within seconds and it's just not clear who I am. It doesn't help that not everyone likes when I get excited and stuff so I have to calm myself down."

"Ponyta, that doesn't sound like an identity issue," Torkoal told her. "It sounds like you value what others think about you to the point that you have to change yourselves for others. What you think as an identity issue is actually an issue of being yourself to appease everyone else. Were you made fun of when you were younger?"

"I wasn't made fun of," Ponyta answered as she shook her head. "But I was more of an outcast, I guess. I was always ready for the next adventure but none of my friends wanted to join me."

"Then that proves my theory" Torkoal continued. "Try to actually be yourself from now on. You don't have to please everyone, you don't have to change yourself for other people."

"I guess that makes sense," Ponyta said in thought as she looked up. "But I don't know how to, well, be myself exactly. That sounds hard, dude."

"You'll get it, eventually." Torkoal said as he stood up. "I believe in you. You'll get through your problems real soon, I have faith."

"Hmmm…" Ponyta hummed to herself as she looked down in thought. What Torkoal said made absolute sense, she never really believed that she had an identity issue but it was the only way to explain how she felt. Torkoal must be right, she has to be herself! She looked at Torkoal and nodded her head, "Thanks."

"No problem," Torkoal replied before he turned and walked out of the church. Ponyta looked around and laughed to herself. She was certain of one thing and that was that she did not belong in a church at all! Ponyta jumped to her feet and made her way out of the church, ready for her next adventure!

 **-000-**

"Another successful battle," Charmeleon stated as he stretched. A few bruises were already forming on his skin but he still felt amazing.

"That battle had a lot more gay moves than the others," Numel commented with a chuckle. "For a good while there, I thought you were trying to get the dude's attention in another way."

"Uh, no. You must be delusional," Charmeleon replied as he rolled his eyes. The two were walking back towards the trailers to relax a bit before they get lunch. "He wasn't my type anyways."

"Sure, I believe you," Numel said with another chuckle. "But you do have a lot of fancy combo moves. You should think about joining the contest hall. You'll get lots of attention and you can maybe get to the second round!"

"Not really my style," Charmeleon admitted as the two sat at one of the tables. "My moves are for effectiveness in battle, not for show. I prefer battling over showing off. But have you ever thought of battling? You could always afford losing some weight."

"Excuse you but I happen to enjoy my weight," Numel replied, rolling his eyes this time.

"I does fit you well, I suppose," Charmeleon said as he stretched his sore muscles more.

"Wait… Was that a compliment?" Numel asked, shocked. "Who are you and what have you done with Charmeleon?"

"We did have a deal of being nice," Charmeleon said as he shrugged his shoulders. He then narrowed his eyes at the camel, "A deal that you seem to have forgotten."

"What do you mean?" Numel asked as he narrowed his eyes back. "I've been nice! Maybe not as nice as you but I've been nice."

"Not really. You can use some work," Charmeleon told him, looking away from him. For once, he did not feel like escalating the argument and decided to actually be helpful. He looked back at Numel and said, "Well, how about you prove it to me. Be nice in the next challenge and I'll vote with you. If you don't, you have to vote with me."

"A bet then?" Numel mused to himself, rubbing his chin in thought. "Sure. The vote better be worth it!"

"Confident?" Charmeleon asked with a chuckle. "I doubt you'll be able to win this."

"Get ready, gay boy, because you're going down!" Numel exclaimed with a laugh. "I have yet to lose a bet and I won't lose this one!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Charmeleon said as he rolled his eyes. "Want to go get lunch now? I'm starving."

"I'm always up for some food," Numel replied with a grin as he jumped from his seat at the table, already heading towards the city. Charmeleon rolled his eyes but smiled as he watched Numel walk away for a few seconds. Eventually though, with a groan, Charmeleon stood up and ran towards Numel, eager to get some food with his friend.

 **-000-**

Larvesta was swinging from tree to tree in a secluded area within Amity Square, continuing his training. Throughout his time on the show, Larvesta found this area one day and decided to make it his training area. His main area of focus of his most recent training was his aim, especially when he's moving.

The bug-type shot an Ember as he swung from a branch, almost missing his target. With a sigh, Larvesta decided to take a break, swinging down to his rest area.

"I'm getting closer, at least," Larvesta said to himself as he grabbed a bottle of water. "I'll get it down, I will be the best superhero there is!"

As Larvesta was draining his water bottle, he noticed a slight rustling nearby. Curious, the bug fired a String Shot at a nearby branch and swung himself to a tree above the rustling bush. Peering down, Larvesta noticed a two strange Pokemon conversing with each other.

"I'm surprised it took Entei this long to find out where Type:Null's show took place," The yellow Pokemon said to the blue one. It took a few seconds for Larvesta to recognize the two Pokemon as the two legendary beasts: Raikou and Suicune.

"I'm not, Entei is an idiot," Suicune replied with a scoff. "You can never rely on guys to get your work done."

"That's a bit harsh," Raikou commented, flinching when Suicune turned her harsh glare towards him.

"I don't really care," Suicune said as she turned around. "We have a mission to do and I will not accept failure."

"It's just a scouting mission," Raikou replied in a softer tone. "You need to relax Suicune. I get that you take your job seriously but-"

"Enough!" Suicune boomed out, glaring at Raikou once more. "You do not tell me what I need or don't need to do! I will do what you useless men can't and will bring Type:Null down!"

"Alright, alright," Raikou said as he backed away. "You do what you think you need to do. I'll be in my position if you need me."

Larvesta watched the two legendary Pokemon walk off in different directions, narrowing his eyes at the two. Something was going on and he and his fellow competitors are in the middle for this.

"I need to keep an eye on these two…" Larvesta muttered to himself. "Nothing I can do right now but I need to be ready to take action at any point." Larvesta swung back down to his rest area before he felt the signal for the next challenge.

"Let's do this!" Larvesta exclaimed as he put on his signature smile, readying another String Shot to get to the clearing faster.

 **-000-**

 **Larvesta rubbed his chin in thought as he hummed to himself, "I cannot come up with a reason why legendary Pokemon would be here. What do they need with the producer? I can tell something isn't right but I don't have enough information."**

 **-000-**

The contestants gathered before the simulator, and after being told that there were no announcements, they entered the machine with Lopunny. Once their vision returned to normal, the group found a giant mountain form in front of them. The mountain was strange since it had various biomes located on it, which changed the further you traveled. What made it even more bizarre was the fact that the biomes changed every few minutes, making the mountain ever changing. The sight was breathtaking in its own right as it was more mysterious than beautiful. Even Growlithe, the ever energetic one that rarely pays attention, was entranced by the mountain.

"Welcome… To Reality Mountain!" Lopunny exclaimed as she swept her arms around the grassy field the contestants were standing in. "This particular mountain goes through various realities at different areas. One area may be free from gravity while another area might make it so you can only take in carbon dioxide."

"Fascinating…" Charmeleon mumbled as he held a hand to his chin. "The rules of reality will not apply for most of this challenge, the realm of science does not exist here."

"Exactly!" Lopunny said as she beamed at Charmeleon. "Your challenge is very simple and that is to reach the summit! It's another race challenge!"

"So… Does the whole team have to get there or just one person?" Numel asked as everyone looked for the summit.

"Just one person," Lopunny replied. "And the summit is behind that wall over there." The contestants looked over towards where Lopunny was pointing and spotted an actual rock wall with a flag at the top of it. The wall turned into a point, as if it's a mountain's peak, which was strange as the mountain was behind them.

"How does that even work?" Salandit asked as he looked between the two mountains.

"Who knows, nothing here makes sense," Lopunny replied with a smile. "Anyways, to claim your win, you just have to stand on the button on the summit. Easy, right?"

"Sounds simple enough. Probably won't be easy though," Charmeleon spoke up.

"Alright, I'll teleport myself and the Blazikens to the other side of the mountain," Lopunny continued. "The mountain paths will form once I blow the horn. Once they open up, you can start then." With a giggle, Lopunny snapped her fingers and she and the Blazikens disappeared.

"So… Who's our leader now?" Salandit asked after a few seconds of silence. "Ninetales helped us decide what to do and stuff."

"What about Torkoal?" Braixen asked. "He is a wise individual and has helped our team out in the past."

"Any objections?" Salandit asked before Torkoal could say something. "No? Okay, I guess Torkoal is the new leader now."

"I feel honored," Torkoal said with a laugh. "But there is not much to plan yet, we just have to go up the mountain. No need to make something easy difficult."

"Let's go climb a mountain! I love hiking!" Growlithe exclaimed as he ran up to the base of the mountain.

"I love hiking too!" Ponyta exclaimed before looking down suddenly. She realized what she was doing a few seconds later, so she shook her head and smiled at Growlithe.

"I wonder…" Slugma said to herself as she moved towards the mountain wall.

"What's up Slugma?" Salandit asked as he walked over to the slug. "Did you figure something out?"

"Maybe," Slugma replied as she looked up. "I may be able to climb this surface right here. I'll be slow at it but I can tr-ACHOO!" Little embers flew from her mouth and landed on the wall before disappearing.

"Well, you are a slug Pokemon…" Slugma mumbled. "You should give it a shot while the rest of us go through the mountain."

"Isn't that a bit of a gamble?" Slugma asked. "I might be needed in there somehow. What if you guys get knocked out and I'm too slow?"

"I'm feeling lucky today," Salandit replied with a wink.

"Alright, I'll do it!" Slugma exclaimed before she turned towards the giant wall in front of her.

 **-000-**

"This reminds me of home," Magmar said to herself as she looked towards the mountain. "But my mountain is not as tall."

"You live on a mountain?" Torchic asked in shock. "I never knew that about you!"

"It never came up," Magmar replied as she shrugged her shoulders. "I did travel down the mountain often to visit the locals but that became less frequent as I grew older. Lots of training with Father."

"Training for what?" Torchic asked as Charmeleon ordered the team to start moving. "Were you training for self-defense or for a future job?"

"Father always told me that I would figure out why when the time comes," Magmar said as she picked up Torchic to make the climb easier, despite the trail not being very steep yet. "For now, I must train to figure out my purpose."

"Magmar… You're amazing!" Torchic exclaimed. "Whatever purpose you find, it will be amazing and one of the best things ever. I know it!"

"You're too kind," Magmar replied with a soft chuckle and a small smile.

As the team continued to climb up the trail, snow started to fall into the path. The more they climbed, the harder it was to find their footing. Every now and then, one of the members would start to slip but Magmar was always there to catch them.

"This is definitely excellent superhero training!" Larvesta exclaimed as he shot a String Shot towards a rock formation, swinging towards it seconds later.

"I'm half hoping he falls, to be honest," Numel confessed as they watched the bug swing around the area.

"And you must really want to lose the bet," Charmeleon said as he shook his head. "We should get moving, we don't know how far the other team is."

"Yes sir," Numel mumbled under his breath. Larvesta, who was still busy swinging around, was hit with a particularly strong gust of wind. Magmar caught the bug before he was sent flying and set him down.

"That was rather unexpected!" Larvesta exclaimed with a laugh. "Thank you very much, Magmar."

A few seconds later, another gust of wind hit the group, making a few cover their faces. Lampent turned towards the source and fired a Shadow Ball, just for it to be countered by an Air Slash. Two Staraptor and a Braviary came into view and created another gust of wind, blowing snow in the fire-types' faces.

"There's an open area up ahead, we need to get there immediately!" Charmeleon called out to his group before he started to run forward. Numel was right behind him, moving at a bit of a slower pace.

"You guys go ahead, I've got these three!" Larvesta called over to Magmar and Torchic. "It's a hero's duty to make sure everyone gets to safety first."

"Larvesta, don't be stupid! You're a bug type, you won't last too long against them!" Torchic exclaimed. "We can make it to- Ah!" As Torchic was yelling at Larvesta from Magmar's grasp, another strong burst of wind cut off the chick as she was sent flying into the air.

"Torchic!" Larvesta exclaimed. "Hold on, I got you!" Quickly, Larvesta fired a String Shot and successfully grabbed Torchic with the move. However, just as he started to pull the fire-type in, the three flying-type Pokemon used Whirlwind together, knocking the Torch Pokemon into the air as well. Magmar was able to grab onto a rock so she was unaffected by the attack.

"No!" Magmar yelled as she watched the powerful wind whip Torchic and Larvesta around in the air until they were no longer in her sight. With a growl, she turned towards the three birds and fired a Fire Blast. Lampent, who was also unaffected by the Whirlwind, decided to follow suit and fired a Flame Burst. With a screech, the three birds fell out of the air, obscured by the flying snow within seconds. Magmar sighed as she looked into the sky, still unable to see her two small friends.

"Come," Lampent commanded as he started to go up the path. "We find later." Magmar nodded her head and decided to follow, determined to find her two friends.

 **-000-**

Latios sighed as he flew through the air, looking for Suicune and Raikou. He didn't really understand why everyone was so concerned about Type:Null, Arceus can just demolish him if he really wanted to. And now here he was, stuck being a messenger despite not wanting to get out of bed that morning. Maybe Arceus is just bored and wants to play with the rogue legendary? The dragon-type will never know and he doesn't exactly care too much.

Eventually, the Legendary Pokemon arrived at Hearthome City and scouted the routes next to the city. After another ten minutes or so, Latios found Raikou lounging inside Amity Square in an area far from the public.

"Thunder kitty, Arceus demands a report!" Latios called over as he flew down to the electric-type. "He demands results… Even though he's literally God and can obliterate everyone and everything if he truly wanted to."

"Oh, hey Latios!" Raikou exclaimed as he leapt attention. "How goes the family? Latias is doing good?"

"Yeah yeah, she's fine," Latios replied as he waved his hand. "Look, I just want to get home and go to bed so just give me a report!"

"Still having lady issues?" Raikou asked with a chuckle but stopped after seeing Latios' glare. "Alright, alright. Well, Suicune and I found out that the base of their show is in Amity Square away from the public. Most of the contestants go into a weird machine and disappear for most of the day. The losers go to a hotel within the city and... That's it. Suicune is scoping out the place daily, waiting for Type:Null to appear."

"I find this situation completely idiotic," Latios muttered as he rubbed his face. "Some of the legends are taking this thing too far like your siblings. Arceus just needs to end this so we can move on with our lives."

"I agree… Sorta," Raikou said as he patted Latios on the back. "Though I don't see why Arceus is getting so upset over mortals. And Legendary Pokemon disappear all of the time for their own reasons. Everyone needs to chill and just be friends or something."

"That would be better than this," Latios agreed as he nodded his head. "Well, thank you for your report. I'm going back to the boss and then I'm going back to bed."

"Hey, don't forget… You'll find her buddy, some day!" Raikou called out as Latios was outlined in a pink light. The dragon-type rolled his eyes before disappearing.

"Well… Back to 'watching' the place," Raikou said to himself with a chuckle, finding a comfortable spot once again.

 **-000-**

As the Flareons continued the climb up their mountain, the temperature continued to increase, even making a few Pokemon start to sweat despite their fire-typing. After a long while, the members of the team pulled themselves up onto a ledge.

"Wow, it sure is _hot_ here!" Salandit exclaimed as he fell onto his back, panting. "I wonder how Slugma is doing… Though I doubt she would get very hot because she's literally magma."

"You and Slugma seem to be spending a lot of time together over the past few days," Ponyta said as she walked towards the lizard. "And you're getting closer, right? Anything you wanna tell us?"

"Nope," Salandit replied as he rolled his eyes. "I get what you're implying but that is not happening between us."

Ponyta merely hummed in response as the rest of her team picked themselves off the ground. She walked over towards the opposite side of the ledge she was on and found that it was actually a hole in the mountain… With lava at the bottom.

"Oh cool! A volcano!" Growlithe exclaimed as he peered over the ledge next to Ponyta. "I've never seen a volcano before outside of television. This is so cool!"

"It would also explain the extreme heat," Braixen said as she walked over towards the two as well. "Be careful you two, you can easily fall in from here. Especially you, Growlithe."

"You got it!" Growlithe yipped in response.

"We shouldn't waste much time here. Our destinies don't wait for us," Torkoal told his team and the group started to follow the circle towards the other side.

Around the midpoint of the circle, the Flareons felt a bit of rumbling from their feet. Peering over the ledge, Salandit noticed that magma rising at a quick pace. Before he could warn his team, the magma shot up straight into the air as a roar reached their ears. With a flash, the inside of the eruption was blown away by two large, orange wings. With another roar, a Mega Charizard Y flew towards the Flareons and smashed Salandit back with a Dragon Claw. The lizard was saved before he flew off the side of the volcano, thanks to Braixen's Psychic.

"That hurt…" salandit mumbled as he was brought to safety. "Do we have to fight this thing?"

"Seems like it, the path forward is too long, it'll catch us before we get too far," Torkoal told his team as he looked towards the path. "Sometimes life presents a challenge that you can't escape from.. Best to face it head-on." With that, Torkoal turned towards the dragon and stomped with one leg. Three large stones were thrown into the air from the stomp and the Stone Edge flew towards the flying-type. The Charizard Y gave the Torkoal an unimpressed look before melting the three stones with a Flamethrower.

"Too weak," the Charizard growled out as he prepared a Flamethrower.

"Stand back, Torkoal, I will handle this," Braixen said as she stepped forward, he wooden wand at the ready.

"No need, I'm not exactly as old as I say I am," Torkoal replied with a small laugh. "I am in my prime after all." With that, he focused and his shell started to glow. After a few seconds, the Flareons heard a shattering sound as the white light exploded from Torkoal's shell before enveloping the rest of his body.

After the white light disappeared, a Flamethrower covered the area but was blocked right in time by Braixen's Light Screen, preventing damage to the rest of the team. After the flames stopped coming, Torkoal stepped out from behind the shield as a pace faster than normal. He stomped on the ground once again and four glowing rocks were thrown towards the Charizard. Torkoal smirked when he heard the familiar grunt of surprise he's grown accustomed to whenever he battled.

"W-What the…? It was much faster than before! How?" The Charizard exclaimed as he climbed back to where he was in the air, having lost some altitude when he got hit.

"Shell Smash," Torkoal replied before he readied his stance and fired a powerful Hyper Beam. The Charizard let out a growl and quickly flew out of the way before running face-first into a Psybeam fired by Braixen.

"I recommend moving ahead and clearing the obstacle further on," Torkoal told the other three members. "If there is no obstacle in the way, then we must be close to the win. Either way, never stand still, keep moving!"

"You got it, captain," Salandit replied as he gave Torkoal a solute. Growlithe and Ponyta ran forward and Salandit started to run but stopped, "But before I go…" He held a palm out and a purple blob formed in it. He took a deep breath and when the Charizard fired another Flamethrower at Braixen, he threw the purple blob and it successfully hit the flying-type. The purple blob sunk into his skin, signifying that the Toxic took effect.

The Charizard let out a loud roar as Salandit hurried up after his teammates. The flying-type tried to go after Salandit but a quick Psybeam from braixen refocused his attention on her. With a growl, the Charizard flew forward and attempted to slash at the fox with a Dragon Claw. However, before the attack connected, the dragon was knocked aside by a Giga Impact, courtesy of Torkoal.

"You have my thanks, Torkoal!" Braixen called over before firing another Psybeam at the dragon. The Giga Impact carried the Charizard to the other side of the volcano and the two Pokemon smashed into a pile of rocks. The Psybeam followed and caused an explosion but Torkoal threw up a hasty Protect just in time. Braixen saw the turtle falling back and picked him up with Psychic, carrying him back over.

:Impressive power, Braixen," Torkoal complimented as the fox set him down.

"Thank you, you are too kind," Braixen replied with a giggle. "But you did surprise me with your own power."

"Shell Smash provides a large power increase but my defenses are very low as a result," Torkoal replied. As the two were talking, the Charizard climbed out of the rubble and let out another loud roar.

"Seems like we have a long fight ahead of us," Braixen said as she readied her wand.

"Let's give the viewers a show, shall we?" Torkoal asked with a chuckle before he charged a Hyper Beam.

 **-000-**

"Magmar, hold on!" Charmeleon said as the Pokemon in question continued to push ahead. "We won't be able to save them if you don't wait for us. We don't know what we'll expect, you could get injured or disappear or who knows what."

"That does not matter," Magmar called back. "I must find my friend!"

"Clearing," Lampent said simply as he pointed forward. The remaining Blazikens looked forward and saw that Magmar was walking into a grassy area.

Charmeleon walked forward and found that the rocky path lead to a grassy area with a stone area in the middle. Tall standing stones surrounded the outside of the area, all somehow the same distance from each other. He saw a rainbow stretching throughout the large clearing, which made the lizard deadpan. The clouds that surrounded the contestants seemed to have disappeared entirely, leaving a bright blue sky.

In the middle of the stone area looked to be an altar. Upon close inspection, it looked like stones of the same color surrounded the outside of the stone circle, just like the large standing stones. A black torch was on top of each of the stones, each torch holding a purple flame that swayed with the light breeze. The top of the altar held a golden torch that had a white flame instead of the purple flames surrounding the area.

"What kinda cult like stuff is this?" Numel asked as the group reached the stone circle. "This is just weird."

"Something definitely seems off…" Charmeleon said to himself before noticing that Magmar was already walking up the next path. "Magmar wait!"

Before he could start running towards his teammate, a tall wall of purple flames surrounded the outside of the grassy area. A deep and ominous chuckle rang out but the three fire-types could not find the source of the noise. A haze covered the area, blocking out the sun, as a Banette rose up from the ground, his neck at an unnatural angel.

The ghost-type's eyes snapped open as a gravelly voice shouted "play time!"

"That's just creepy!" Numel exclaimed as he jumped backwards. The Banette's head snapped upright and the golden torch flashed as the white flame glowed brighter. A cocoon surrounded the Banette and seconds later, a Mega Banette flew out of the bright light towards the fire-types.

"Looks like we have to fight this!" Charmeleon exclaimed as he brought up his Flame Claws in an X-shape to block the Banette's Shadow Claws. The two engaged in hand-to-hand combat, but by using claws instead of their fists. Fire and ghost energy surrounded the two as they continued to spar and while Charmeleon was able to keep up with blocking the ghost-type's attacks, it was clear he was losing ground.

"I'll just let you two handle this," Numel muttered as he started to back away from the fight. Lampent stopped the camel and pushed the heavy Pokemon forward.

"Fight," Lampent commanded before he vanished, reappearing behind the ghost-type seconds later. He readied a Shadow Ball and fired it at the Bannete's back, but it missed as their opponent teleported. Charmeleon was able to jump out of the way of the ghostly ball and the two looked for their opponent. Numel also looked around and jumped back as the Bannete's hand reached through the ground right in front of the ground-type.

The Banette phased through the ground and rushed Numel, and with a scream, he created a barrier of rocks through the use of Earth Power. The sudden obstacle stopped the Banette from hitting Numel and he turned his attention back to Charmeleon.

"Guess I gotta join this fight too…" Numel said with a sigh. He stomped the ground and the wall in front of him collapsed back into the ground. With another stomp, the earth surrounded Numel into a makeshift cannon with Numel being in the place of the barrel. He aimed and inhaled before firing a Flame Burst right in front of Bannette's path. The ghost-type didn't see the cannon ball-like attack coming for him and was blasted by the explosion.

"Nice work Numel!" Charmeleon called out as he ran forwards, pressing the advantage his teammate gave him. He alternated strikes between Fire Claw and Dragon Claw and soon, he was sparring with the Mega Pokemon once again.

Magmar, who was watching the fight for a bit, sighed and turned back around. She started running up the path once again, on a mission.

 **-000-**

Growlithe, Ponyta, and Salandit continued to run forward and found themselves in a desert. A slight breeze passed by the small group and it carried some sand with it. Cacti of various sizes were scattered throughout the mini desert and a clear, blue sky. There wasn't much else here besides the rocky path on the other side of the desert.

Salandit and Ponyta wearily walked forwards, getting an easy feeling from the sudden calmness compared to the volcano area before this one. Growlithe, however, was running through the sand dunes with a huge smile on his face, laughing the whole way.

"Growlithe, be careful!" Ponyta called out. "We don't know what could be here!" As she was saying this, the sand in front of the group of two exploded, revealing a large Mega Garchomp, who attempted to grab at the lizard instead of Ponyta.

"What the-" Before Salandit could finish his sentence, he was pulled under the sand with the Mega Pokemon.

"Salandit!" Ponyta exclaimed as the desert settled down to the silence that covered it. Growlithe, confused, bounded over towards Ponyta and looked for his other teammate.

Before the dog could say something, the sand between the two fire-types exploded and Salandit was thrown into the air. As gravity took over the lizard once again, he turned towards the Garchomp and threw a blob of purple ooze, poisoning the dragon-type.

Ponyta saw the poison take affect and charged towards the enemy with a Flame Wheel, knocking her out of the hole she created in the sand. The Garchomp let out a snarl and attempted to hit the horse with a Dragon Claw, but Ponyta used Agility to get out of the way.

"We can't really damage her so just dodge her attacks!" Salandit told his two teammates. "We'll have to wait until Braixen and Torkoal finish off the Charizard."

"Or we can run to the other path," Ponyta suggested as Growlithe ran away from the dragon chasing him.

"But then the two would have to fight the mega alone. Again," Salandit explained. "They'll be exhausted at that time."

"Then how about…" Ponyta stopped to think before having to jump out of the way of a Dragon Pulse. Growlithe ran past the two, screaming the entire time as the Mega Garchomp continued to chase him. "How about I run ahead and try to get to the top?"

"That sounds risky…" Salandit replied as he held his chin in thought. "But it's a chance I'm willing to take. Go, I'll help Growlithe keep her distracted!"

Ponyta nodded before using Agility, running towards the other end of the desert. The Garchomp immediately took notice and began to use Dig before a Flame Burst hit her, fired by Salandit. After a few minutes of distracting the Mega Pokemon, Ponyta was able to successfully reach the other side and continued to use Agility, speeding up even more as she went along.

"Now we just make sure we're not knocked out," Salandit told growlithe as he jumped towards him.

"You got it!" Growlithe said with a grin before noticing the Garchomp looking at him with a grin. He immediately started screaming and ran away, with the Garchomp running after him, ignoring Salandit the entire time.

"You know… This is actually kind of funny," Salandit said to himself with a smile, watching the pup run with the land shark following him.

 **-000-**

"How far up are we?" Torchic asked as Larvesta swung them onto the nearby rocky path. "Do you think we're near the top?"

"It's a bit hard to tell," Larvesta admitted as he looked up. During their time in the air, Larvesta noticed that no matter how far they traveled, the summit remained the same distance. "We can only move forward and hope we're close to the top."

The two continued to walk in silence, Larvesta with a smile and Torchic a determined expression. After a good few minutes of walking, the two heard fighting further up their path. The two immediately started running and found Magmar fighting a group of Golem, one against four. And it was clear that Magmar was losing.

The fire-type was trying her hardest to win though, swinging around a staff made of fire as if it was another one of her limbs. The group of Golem continued to fire rocks at her, though, and sh ewasn;t able to block all of them. One of the Golem used Rollout and Magmar was unable to knock the rock-type out of the way. She was knocked against a large boulder and slumped forward, too injured to get up.

"Hey, over here!" Larvetsa called out as he fired a Strong Shot, swinging across the area. This gained the attention of two of the Golem, but the other two were still focused on Magmar.

Larvesta tried his best to distract the other two Golem but he was a bit unsuccessful. He used String Shot to catch Rock Blasts out of the air and throw them at the other two Golem but the rocks were just a minor annoyance.

As the bug-type continued to swing around the area, however, the two Golem following him noticed the string. Nodding to each other, the Golem aimed their next Rock Blast and fired, snapping the string instantly. Larvesta went flying and before he can recover, he was hit by two Rock Blasts, knocking him into a boulder.

"No!" Torchic exclaimed as she watched her friend go down. She felt utterly useless! Out of the three, she knew that she was the weakest. The two Golem in front of Magmar charged up a move Torchic couldn't really see but it didn't matter.

Torchic didn't know what happened but the next thing she knew, she was between Magmar and the two Golem. She didn't care if she was weak or strong, all she cared about was trying to protect her friends.

Magmar looked up as a bright light enveloped the area. Surprised, she watched as the small Torchic she's gotten to know grow in size. After the white light vanished, a Combusken stood in front of her, a determined expression on her face.

With a shout, the newly evolved Pokemon ran towards the two Golem and used Double Kick, knocking them both away. She continued to press the attack, grabbing the slowly fading staff Magmar dropped and giving it more fire energy. The staff glowed brightly as Combusken used it to help deliver her fighting-type moves. The other two Golem noticed the new threat and started to make their way towards their allies. However, Combusken knocked the first two Golem out before the other two could make it.

With a yell, Larvesta got back up and ran towards his teammates, setting up a Strong Shot trap as he ran past the two ground-types. The two Golem didn't notice the string and tripped over it. With a smirk, Combusken used Double Kick and knocked the two into a boulder, knocking them out. After she made sure their enemies were down, Combusken made her way over towards Magmar and helped her up.

"You… Saved me," Magmar said as she stood back up. "Thank you. I always knew you had it in you."

"Thanks," Combusken replied as she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "But I would never have evolved if I never met you. I guess the desire to protect you helped me evolve!"

"We must continue forward," Magmar said after a few seconds. "The summit is just up that path, if we hurry, we may be able to-"

"And the Flareons win the challenge!" Lopunny's voice rang out, cutting Magmar off. "Everyone, quickly come up to the top, the mountain will help you out!"

"Ah, well, we tried our best at least," Combusken said as she flashed her two friends a smile.

 **-000-**

After a few minutes, the two teams found themselves at the top and saw that Slugma was on top of the button, clearly exhausted. Salandit ran up to his friend and gave her a hug.

"Our plan worked!" He exclaimed as she gave him a smile. "Great job, Slugma!"

"It was hard but the mountain never moved while I climbed up the side," Slugma told her team. "It was weird. I heard everyone as if they were right next to me but also like they were far away. Maybe I broke the mountain?"

"Nope!" Lopunny said, making everyone turn to look at her. "Reality Mountain only affects those that touch the path. It's some weird type of magic that only exists here. Since Slugma never went on the path, she was able to bypass the magic and make it here faster!"

"Great work team, we did it!" Growlithe cheered before hearing a snarl behind him. He slowly looked behind him before jumping into the air and running, the Garchomp letting out a laugh as she watched him run. The contestants turned and saw their earlier opponents standing behind them, all in their normal forms.

"Everyone meet your opponents," Lopunny told the contestants. "They're some Pokemon we hired to give you a bit of an extra challenge."

"Nice to meet you," Braixen told the Charizard as she bowed slightly. "I hope you enjoyed our fight."

"You two have a lot of potential!" The Charizard replied as he let out a belly laugh. "Well done, well done to all of you! We're all impressed!"

"Also, congratulations on your evolution," one of the Golem told Combusken. "You did really well with your new body."

"Oh yeah, Torchic evolved," Numel said as her team came over to see. "Good job. You're no longer a frail little bird."

"I… Don't know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult," Combusken admitted as she gave Numel a look. "So… Thanks?"

"It was an amazing challenge overall," Lopunny told the group. "You all showed amazing strength, strategy and determination, especially in Combusken's case. Now, time to show you the magic of Reality Mountain's summit."

Lopunny walked towards a peculiar looking stone and stood on top of it. She slowly sank back to the floor and stepped off the stone, revealing that it was just a hidden button. Parts of the clearing sunk into the ground and filled with water, steam coming off of the water.

"The hot springs here are to die for," Lopunny explained as the water finished filling the newly made holes. "Enjoy yourselves. And Blazikens, be ready for a vote later today. Great job everyone!"

 **-000-**

A few hours later, the contestants found themselves back in Amity Square. Braixen walked inside the trailer to grab her new book but found a familiar book on her bed. Hesitant, she opened the book and found a note inside.

As she read the note, a strange expression formed until she finished. She burned the note in her hands and nodded her head. "I know what I must do," Braixen told herself, placing the book back down.

 **-000-**

"Welcome, Blazikens, to another elimination ceremony," Lopunny told the group in front of her as they sat down. "Unfortunately, one of you will be unable to continue in this game. The votes are in and I'm surprised at the result."

"With no votes, Combusken, Charmeleon, and Larvesta are safe for the night. Safe with one vote is Lampent."

"See, told you that attitude means something," Charmeleon told Numel. Numel didn't reply but just glared at the lizard.

"Magmar, Numel, one of you will be leaving tonight. Safe with two votes, N-"

"Wait!" Braixen exclaimed as she ran towards the elimination ceremony. She was carrying two books in her arms, making sure that they didn't fall. "I must leave the game."

"What do you mean?" Lopunny asked as she placed the marshmallow back down.

"I quit the competition," Braixen replied. "There is a personal mission I must accomplish and I can't complete it while here."

"Are you sure about this?" Altaria asked. "You never know how far you'd go. You could even win!"

"I'm sure," Braixen told the hosts. "This is something much bigger than the prize. I must do this!"

"Well, if you're so sure…" Lopunny trailed off. "Alright! It is sad to see you go, Wanda, but if something more important has come up, you must pursue it!"

"Thank you," Wanda replied, bowing her head. "Good luck on the rest of the competition. And give my team my regards, they did not know about this."

"You got it! And Blazikens, no need to continue with the vote," Lopunny told the team. "You guys get some rest."

As the Blazikens left the area, Wanda entered the limo and it sped off. Altaria watched her go, hiding a satisfied look, before turning towards Lopunny.

"I certainly did not expect this," Lopunny said as she looked towards the camera. "I would have expected Wanda to get to at least merge. But it seems like something else came up so her path in life has been altered. Be sure to tune in next time to see what this decision effects the next challenge!"

 **-000-**

 **Charmeleon folded his arms and shrugged his shoulders as he spoke, "My vote goes to Magmar because she ran ahead. If she helped us with the Banette, maybe we could have won? It's hard to tell, the other team had a solid strategy."**

 **-000-**

 **Combusken was admiring her new body before she spoke, "Having arms feels so good! And it's nice being taller! Things are looking up for me. My vote goes to Numel because, well, I never really liked him."**

 **-000-**

 **Lampent gave the camera a blank stare, "Magmar goes."**

 **-000-**

 **Larvesta gave the camera his signature smile, "I'm glad that Combusken was able to evolve. It was unlucky that they had Slugma but we would have won because of her evolution! But that's alright. I vote for Numel because of how villainous he's been so far."**

 **-000-**

" **I vote for Lampent again," Magmar said simply. "He must go."**

 **-000-**

 **Numel sighed as he gave the camera an uncaring look, "I honestly don't care who goes. As long as Charmeleon is safe. But since Magmar left us behind, I guess her."**

 **-000-**

 **Braixen looked at the two books in her hands, a bit conflicted, "I must collect the rest of these books. It is unfortunate but I must quit the competition to be able to do so. I have learned that magic is actually real… And I just need the books. I cannot say much more on this topic for now."**

16th- Litleo, aka Lilith (The Seven Sins)

15th- Emboar, aka Patrick (The Earthshaking Fatass)

14th- Darumaka, aka Dan (The Tranquill)

13th- Ninetales, aka Whisper (The Ruthless Tyrant)

12th- Braixen, aka Wanda (The Actual Magician)

 **-000-**

 **Ah, and so the plot thickens. We see a lot more Legendaries show up and things are starting to pick up. And we see yet another character, the shadow figure, who apparently Altaria is now working for? Hmm…**

 **Wanda never really had a plot when I started this except for being Whisper's support. But that fell apart after I came up with the book plot, and it became better with the advancement of the rest of the plot, aka the future battle. Braixen's story will continue on outside of the competition as she continues to get ready for… Whatever is to come. But what does that mean for the rest of the cast?**


End file.
